


Eight Skeletons and a Mage

by GalaxyBrownies



Series: Eight Skeletons and a Mage Collection [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AFAB reader - Freeform, F/M, Female Reader, Obligatory Reverse Harem Skeleton Fic, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has had a traumatic past, Reverse Harem, Self Insert, Underfell, fellswap, sorry i don’t make the rules, underswap - Freeform, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-06-19 00:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 103,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15498165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyBrownies/pseuds/GalaxyBrownies
Summary: Papyrus finds you when you have nowhere to go. Now you live with eight skeletons. You don’t mind this arrangement.Most of the time.





	1. A Place To Call Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I’ll be posting twice a week (Mondays and Fridays) unless otherwise stated! I hope you like this first chapter, please comment if you do!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

1141 Starlight Avenue.

1141 Starlight Avenue.

You check the paper one more time— anxiety, after all, before slipping it in your pockets and cautiously raising a fist up to knock on the large, wooden doors in front of you.

_Knock, knock, knock._

No response.

_Knock, knock, knock._

There’s another long pause, and you’re about to turn and leave due to your mounting anxiety, when the door cracks open. Open just barely, all you can see of the person behind the door is two tired eye sockets, pinpricks of light floating in the black, and a single slippered foot.

“H-hi,” you say, waving shyly. _Great_ first introduction, simply _terrific_.

“you the human papyrus was talking about?” He asks with a low voice. You cringe a little.

“Yes?” You respond. You can see his eyes relax as the door swings fully open. You sigh in relief.

“then come on in. i’ve heard good things about you.” Now that you can see him fully, you can tell that he’s probably a full head shorter than you. You aren’t used to people not being taller than you, that was nice.

The house you enter is simply put… amazing. It was a little secluded, yes, but it was large. Lots of hardwood flooring, and lush carpeting in what you can see of the living room, and…

Was that a spiral staircase?

“The house is gorgeous,” you remark, picking your jaw up off of the floor.

“you bring anything with you?” The skeleton asks, looking pointedly at your empty hands. You didn’t know his name. Papyrus had only ever referred to him as his brother. 

“No, I couldn’t… go back to get anything,” you respond softly, eyes on the ground. Papyrus’s brother leads you towards a couch. Well, more like a cluster of couches. Most of them seem to share a common theme, navy blue, cloth… except one.

“Why is one of your couches acid green?” It didn’t look too comfortable from where you were standing, either. You flinch immediately. That probably sounded rude.

“eh. sentimental.” He sits on the lumpy-looking couch, while you stand stiffly next to it. It makes a jangling sound as he sits. You consider asking him why, but you’ve asked enough questions already. “i’m sans, by the way. you?”

“I…” you didn’t particularly like your real name. It was what they called you. “Um… call me… call me…? ...Faye?” _God_ , he probably thought you were stupid, but telling him your real name would have felt _wrong_. Not because you didn’t trust him, or anything. It just made you feel dirty.

“faye? nice name.” He’s wearing a face like he sees right through your facade, but at least he doesn’t question you. “are you gonna sit down?” Sans offers, and you flinch.

“S-sorry!” You yelp, immediately sitting down. Yikes, it _was_ uncomfortable. It would be rude to ask to sit on one of the blue couches, though…

“is this the human? was that today? i damn well forgot,” A gruff voice asks from the back of the room. You whip your head around to see who it is. This new skeleton looks remarkably like Sans, for some reason. Did all skeletons look the same? No, no, Papyrus looked quite different from Sans. 

He saunters up to you two, hopping straight over one of the couches. “well, hello there,” he grins at you in a way that you think you aren’t supposed to take platonically. It’s kind of… unnerving? Now that he’s even closer, your thoughts about his resemblance to Sans are only strengthened. If you didn’t know any better, you’d almost say they were the same person? Well, if Sans had sharp teeth, and one that was golden, which he didn’t.

“red, quit being creepy,” Sans complains, glancing at you apologetically. “this is...faye.” He glances at you again. “right?” You hesitate, but nod. 

“so this cutie here is living with us?” Red grins lecherously. That didn’t feel as much like a compliment when he said it like that. You move your hands down to fumble with the black band around one of your fingers nervously. 

“Y-yes?” Great, here comes your stutter again, right on time.“...Faye,” you hesitate, then flinch. “Oh, erm. You already knew that. Sorry!” You thank whatever being is out there that you didn't stutter anymore.

You go back to twisting your ring around your finger. Well, _you_ just blundered that whole introduction! Time to throw yourself off a cliff!

“it’s alright, sweetheart,” he goes for what was probably supposed to be a comforting smile, but just ends up looking forced. “i’m no good with these fuckin things either.”

“well, now that we’ve gotten _that_ awkwardness out of the way,” Sans starts, and you jump slightly at the reminder that he was right next to you, “only… five more to go?” He grins at you, then stands, offering a hand to you. You glance at it for more than a couple seconds before politely declining the hand, standing up yourself.

You decide to chance asking a question. “Where’s… where’s Papyrus?” You’d feel much less anxious if that ray of sunshine was next to you.

Sans shrugs. “he’s out. should be back soon,” He drawls. You frown, you’d been hoping he would be here when you arrived. “follow me.”

He takes you down a hallway, to what appears to be an office space of sorts. There’s at least three computers in here, a television… maybe it was more of a multimedia room? You weren’t familiar with this kind of stuff.

One of the computers has another Sans-looking skeleton sitting by it, headphones on and controller in hand. You can hear muffled explosion sounds playing that the headphones weren’t able to silence to outside listeners.

“blue?” Sans calls, trying to snap him out of his reverie. Blue? Interesting name. Blue’s eyes remain locked on the computer screen in front of him. “blue,” Sans drags out the end of the word, snapping his fingers in front of Blue’s face.

Blue blinks a couple times and fumbles with the remote. You hear the explosion sounds coming from the headset stop, and he pulls them off of his head to rest around his neck.

“HUH?” His eye lights dart to you, and stay there. “OH! THE HUMAN,” he exclaims in a speculative voice. “I’M BLUE,” he begins. 

“Faye,” you respond, calming your nerves. “It’s nice to meet you?”

“d’ya mind takin her on a tour of the house, blue? introduce her to everyone? i’ve got stuff I need to get done. would be a big help.”

“OF COURSE!” Blue responds exuberantly, fiddling with his controller once again. The computer screen turns off, and he removes the headphones from around his neck to stand up.

“thanks again,” Sans says appreciatively, before turning to leave the room. You feel a lot like your friend just left you at a party with a bunch of strangers.

“SO!” Blue begins, clapping his hands together. “THIS IS THE COMPUTER ROOM! YOU CAN COME IN HERE WHENEVER, JUST DON'T MESS WITH ANY FILES THAT AREN'T YOURS.” His face shifts into an uncomfortable looking expression. “Especially if it’s Red’s,” he mumbles. 

There’s a small silence before you nod and he jumps back into action, beckoning you to leave the room with him.

You decide to chance a question. “What… what were you playing?” You ask in a meek voice.

“IT'S NOT VERY IMPORTANT,” he replies without hesitation. “JUST A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER.” Huh. You wouldn’t have pegged him as the type. You shrug and follow him out of the room.

He takes you through the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, (“WE HAD TO GET TOILETS INSTALLED WHEN SANS TOLD US PAPYRUS HAD INVITED YOU HERE,”), and then finally upstairs. The second floor is just a long line of bedrooms, all of which are already occupied.

“THIS FIRST ONE IS MINE,” Blue exclaims, “IT HAS A DOOR CONNECTING IT TO MY BROTHER’S ROOM.” So the door next to his was his brother’s? Why would they want adjoined rooms, anyways?

He knocks on the door next to his, which swings open after a couple seconds. Your first reaction is to ask how Papyrus got back into the house without you noticing, but… this wasn’t Papyrus, was it?

“HEY, PA- _ORANGE_ ,” Blue stumbles over his words. You blink a couple times at that. He didn’t seem like he fumbled his words too easily. And over his own brother’s name?

“hey, blue. and… human. didn’t realize you’d arrived already.” Not-Papyrus grins at you, offering a hand. You hesitate, staring at the hand for far too long. You take it after a couple more seconds, but draw back almost immediately. You felt rude, but...

“THIS IS FAYE!” 

“well, then. hey, faye.” Orange snickers. That rhymed. Maybe that was the joke?

“Hi! Um, your… brother is showing me around the house!”

“sweet. mind if i join?” He asks, and you give him a tentative thumbs up. You didn’t mind. “cool.”

When Blue turns to lead you down the hallway again, you’re stopped when a door flies open strongly enough to hit the wall, and a skeleton tumbles out.

“GET _OUT_ , MUTT!” A sharp, biting voice exclaims, before the door slams closed again. A knot forms in your chest at the sudden noise, but you forcefully make it disappear. It was just a dumb noise, you’d be fine.

You really didn’t want to meet whoever was behind that door, so you turn to the skeleton on the floor instead. Another skeleton that looked like Papyrus. This was starting to get really odd.

“PUP, ARE YOU OKAY?” Blue rushes over to the skeleton’s side. Pup sits up, and props himself up on a hand. 

“yeah, i’m alright. thanks, though.” You notice a pair of headphones laying sprawled out on the ground. 

“H-here,” you say, holding out his headphones and trying not to let your hand shake. “I- um. Hope they’re not busted?”

He looks at you suspiciously before taking them out of your hand and resting them around his neck, then pushes himself up to a stand.

“thanks. i assume you’re the human sans told us about?” Your eyes flick down to his teeth. They look very… sharp? Two of them are replaced with some kind of gold fake teeth, like the one Red had.

“Yes.” You introduce yourself like you had with all the others, telling him your ‘name’. He didn’t need to know it was fake.

“faye, huh?” He flicks his eyes from you to the others behind you. “i think we’ll get along _**faye**_ mously.” Was that… a pun?

You hear Orange snicker from behind you, and can even see Blue suppressing a small laugh.

“i guess she needs to meet black?” Orange asks hesitantly, resting an arm on your shoulder. You immediately flinch back from the contact, jumping slightly to the side. Orange glances at you with a confused expression, but doesn’t press it. “any tips on not getting her the same treatment as you?”

“don’t get on his bad side,” Pup says in a low tone. 

“COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNHELPFUL, BUT THANK YOU!” Blue chirps, reaching out to grab your arm, but apparently thinking better of it and instead going for a gesture to come with him.

You follow him meekly to the door. It doesn’t look very welcoming, it even had barbed wire stapled onto its surface. Very… edgy. Blue pushes it open slowly.

“BLACK? THE HUMAN HAS ARRIVED,” He says carefully.

“THE HUMAN?” A sharp voice calls. It hums thoughtfully. “BRING IT IN.”

You stand stock still behind Blue. You don’t really want to go inside, it didn’t seem safe.

Noticing your apparent fear, Blue turns and whispers to you, “He’s not going to hurt you. He only really treats his brother like that. And I’ll be with you, don’t worry!” 

That wasn’t much of a reassurance, you didn’t know Blue enough to know if he’d be much of a help, but…

You allow him to lead you into the room, closing the door behind you.

It’s really dark in here. There are a couple candles lit on a dresser, and cold air blowing in from the windows. It almost had the ambiance of a villain’s lair.

“HELLO, HUMAN,” a voice muses from the bed. You turn to look at the bed. So this was Black? Not that intimidating, honestly. You were expecting worse. He was very small, smaller than any of the other not-Sanses (and Sans himself, you supposed) that you’d met. 

He would probably have pulled off the whole ’shrouded in darkness, mysterious figure’ look better if he hadn’t been lit up by a phone screen, vibrant colors reflected on his skull, but he was.

He was almost… cute?

You had a feeling you shouldn’t say that out loud.

“I’m glad to meet you?” You respond. “I’m Faye.” It was getting easier and easier to introduce yourself with your new name.

“YES, YOU SHOULD BE.” Should be Faye? You’re about to open your mouth to ask for clarification, when he hurriedly amends his statement with “GLAD TO MEET ME, THAT IS.” Ah.

That was kind of an unpleasant attitude. Well, it probably would have been too much to hope that everyone here would be as kind and welcoming as the others.

You weren’t sure what else to say.

“SO,” Black continues, lowering his eyes back down to his phone screen, “SANS TOLD US YOU WERE COMING, BUT HE DIDN'T SAY _WHY_. AND I AM CURIOUS.”

“I-I don’t… don’t think I shou-” You splutter out, backing up nervously. You feel a pit form in your chest again, but force it back. It was unnecessary at the moment.

“THAT WAS NOT A _REQUEST_ , HUMAN,” Black spats. “TELL ME WHY YOU ARE HERE, OR I SWEAR I’LL-”

“HEY! BLACK! NO THREATENING OUR NEW HOUSEMATE!” Blue jumps in between you two, waving his hands frantically. You continue backing up until you hit the dresser with a thunk. One of the candles bounces slightly with the impact, but doesn’t fall over.

“VERY WELL,” Black sighs, smirk visible in the light from his phone. It seems like he’s not actually paying much attention to the interaction, tilting his phone back and forth as arcade game noises play from the speaker. You can see the colors morph and change against his face. “WE WILL CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION LATER, _HUMAN_.” 

He raises a hand, and waves you off in the direction of the door. Blue sighs in exasperation and storms out of the room, and you scamper to keep up with him, closing the door quietly behind you.

“WELL. THAT WENT… HONESTLY, BETTER THAN EXPECTED. SORRY FOR HIM, BUT HE’S KIND OF UNAVOIDABLE.” The apologetic look in his eye sockets show that he’s being completely sincere. He hums in thought for a couple seconds, while you look around the hallway. Looks like Orange and Pup left. Oh well. Finally, Blue speaks up. “FELL IS OUT OF THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW, AND I THINK PAPYRUS WANTED TO BE THE ONE TO SHOW YOU YOUR ROOM, SINCE HE DECORATED IT AND ALL? SO… DO YOU LIKE MOVIES?”

You really didn’t know any that were released recently. You shrug.

“WELL, YOU CAN WATCH WITH ME ANYWAYS!” Blue chirps, leading you back towards the living room. “WE HAVE A LOT! YOUR CHOICE!”

There were a _lot_ of movies. You just choose the first one that catches your eye, and hand it to Blue.

“OH! THIS ONE’S A GOOD ONE!” He goes off on a tangent about the movie while you sit carefully on the couch.

Something told you that this was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, this _is_ a self insert. Faye is her new name, her old name is y/n! Feel free to insert yourself in.
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	2. New Things Don’t Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’ll see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

Blue wanted to watch a movie.

So you end up sitting ramrod straight on a couch in the living room (luckily one of the non-green ones), watching a movie from a franchise you hadn’t even known existed. 

“WOULD YOU LIKE SOME POPCORN?” Blue offers the bowl to you, but you decline. He shrugs, and sticks a whole fistful in his mouth. Good for him, you guess.

When the front door finally opens with a creak, you jump slightly but whip your head around. Was it Papyrus?

It was!

“AND SO THEN I SAID, ‘YOU BETTER NOT LET THE HUMAN SIT ON THE _GREEN_ COUCH’, BUT SANS CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THAT HE-” Papyrus stops in his tracks, looking you directly in the eye. “OH! YOU'RE RIGHT HERE! HELLO-”

“F-Faye!” You frantically interrupt. “It’s Faye.”

Papyrus looks confused. “BUT WHEN WE MET BEFORE, YOU TOLD ME YOUR NAME WAS-”

“Faye! I told you my name was Faye!”

“DID YOU? I MAY HAVE… FORGOTTEN, THEN. I AM VERY SORRY, FAYE.” He looks genuinely upset at the mishap, and you feel immense remorse for lying to him like that. He didn’t deserve to be hurt, not after how he helped you.

“It’s really okay! Don’t think another moment about it!” You quickly reassure him. You stand up from the couch, glancing at Blue to see him completely enamored with the movie, and walk over to Papyrus.

“IF YOU SAY SO! FELL, DO YOU MIND? I NEED TO SHOW FAYE TO HER ROOM.” You hadn’t noticed until now, but another skeleton stood squarely behind Papyrus. Seeing them side by side… man, these skeletons really were similar, weren’t they?

The shorter skeleton glares down at you. “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU INSIST ON BRINGING SUCH A… _HUMAN_ INTO OUR HOUSE,” He sneers. Great, another Black. Your chest tingles slightly, a warning sign that you needed to calm down, when Papyrus speaks to your defense.

“SHE IS OUR NEW HOUSEMATE, FELL! TREAT HER KINDLY!” Papyrus urges his doppelgänger. Fell just rolls his eyes and storms upstairs, where you hear a door slam shortly after. “I AM TRULY SORRY FOR HIM,” Papyrus sympathizes. “HE DOESN'T INTERACT WELL WITH HUMANS HE DOESN'T KNOW. HE’LL GET BETTER WITH TIME,” He assures you. 

You nod to show your gratefulness at his help. You didn’t want to appear to be… selfish. He offers a hand to you, and you take it without hesitation. While with others, touch may be difficult, you completely trusted Papyrus. He saved your life, after all.

Papyrus leads you up the stairs, then up one more floor. There wasn’t much up here, a bathroom, a bedroom, and what appeared to be a study. 

“THIS IS YOUR BEDROOM,” Papyrus gestures towards the door. “IT’S THE ONLY ONE WITH A LOCK, DUE TO HOW THIS HOUSE WAS MANUFACTURED. THOUGH…” Papyrus speculates, hand on chin, “WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET THAT CHANGED, HMMMM…”

At the word ‘lock’, you completely freeze up, joints frozen in place. You can hear your heart rate in your ears, feel your breath quicken in your chest as a pit forms at the perceived threat. 

“HEY!” Papyrus shouts. Through your daze, you look up at him. “IT’S AN _INSIDE_ LOCK. NO ONE CAN KEEP YOU SOMEWHERE YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE, OKAY?” You nod dumbly, and Papyrus squeezes your hand gently as you force your breathing to calm. 

“S-sorry,” you wheeze.

“ANYWAYS,” Papyrus continues, wrapping a hand around the doorknob, “HERE YOU ARE!” Opening the door, he nudges you inside of the room.

It’s _beautiful._

You’d spent a good long time talking to Papyrus before you came here. He knew what you liked in decoration, though you wouldn’t have expected it to be quite this _detailed_.

You’d expected normal furnishings— simple bed, simple dresser, that’s all, but he really took your absolute dream room into account.

There was a balcony! You don’t go out to it, but the glass sliding doors are slightly open, white curtains wavering slightly with the breeze. You lean in towards it to see your view—there’s a forest just outside your window, and a small clearing to its right.

You turn back to look in your room. The bed is a loft bed, lifted probably five feet off of the ground and connected to a ladder. The bedding looks soft, and plush, and…you'd never had anything like this before. There’s a ceiling-to-floor veiled curtain around it, light blue with crystal adornments on the edges. You reach out with eager fingers and run them down the end of the sheet, feeling each bump of the stones.

White fairy lights decorated the walls around the bed. You reach out to the switch on the lights and flick them on, enjoying the way the soft white light played against the blue walls. You turn them back off after a couple moments and turn to Papyrus.

“You… really thought of everything.”

Papyrus waves off the praise. “YOU TOLD ME WHAT YOU LIKED, AND I GOT IT. EVEN IF YOU WERE A BIT…” He glances to the side. “STINGY WITH YOUR PREFERENCES. SERIOUSLY, YOU MUST LEARN TO LET PEOPLE TAKE CARE OF YOU,” He tells you sternly.

You try to open your mouth to object, but you barely get a sound out before he draws your attention to him again.

He looks down at you and places his hands on his hips. “I ALSO SENT SANS TO YOUR OLD, DEAD-TO-YOU HOME WHILE YOUR PARENTS WERE OUT. HE CAN BE QUITE SNEAKY WHEN HE WANTS TO BE. YOU’LL FIND YOU HAVE ALMOST ALL OF YOUR OLD CLOTHING, AT LEAST WHAT WAS IMPORTANT,” He declares, and gives you a warm smile. He really was the sun. 

You turn to your dresser, which is plain white and not decorated, aside from a digital clock blinking with red numbers. You open one of the drawers as a test, and sure enough, everything you see in there looks familiar. Despite the kind thought, you didn’t know how you’d wear any of it. It felt wrong, somehow.

You close the drawer with a soft clack.

“YOU ALSO HAVE A WALK-IN CLOSET! I ANTICIPATED YOU WOULD BE LIVING WITH US FOR A LONG TIME, SO I GOT ONE INSTALLED.” 

You honestly have no idea what to say. This must have cost a fortune.

“I… I…”

“SAY NO MORE! I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY HOW YOU ARE FEELING, AND WILL NOW LEAVE YOU TO REVEL IN YOUR NEWFOUND HAPPINESS AND SECURITY! ENJOY!” Papyrus cheers before leaving, and closing the door behind him.

You take one more look around the room before immediately collapsing on the bed. It was noon, you think. Well, it couldn’t hurt to just… rest your eyes for a moment? You wouldn’t fall asleep.

You… wouldn’t…

You…

…

You wake up sometime later with Papyrus gently nudging you awake. Immediately, you jolt up, smoothing the covers, face screwed up in panic. Your fingers fumble over the cloth as your breathing quickens. You had to straighten this up! You weren’t supposed to sleep anyway, so you-

“HEY! CHILL!! YOU'RE FINE! EVERYONE NEEDS SLEEP NOW AND THEN!” At his words, your cover-smoothing becomes a little less frantic, and a little more relaxed. 

You brush a strand of hair out of your face. “Sorry,” you mumble in a low tone.

“IT IS COMPLETELY ALRIGHT, FAYE!”

You swing your legs over to the ladder, dropping down to the floor with a soft poof on the carpet. This stuff was _plush_. You weren’t used to soft flooring, usually.

You glance over at the digital clock on your dresser. 7:03 p.m.

“Dinner?” 

Papyrus nods in confirmation. “I WAS GOING TO MAKE WELCOME-SPAGHETTI, BUT SANS ORDERED A PIZZA BEFORE I COULD START,” he frowns. “I AM SORRY THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH A SUBPAR FIRST DINNER, FRIEND!”

Pizza? You hadn’t had pizza in a long time. Your mouth immediately waters.

“Is it here yet?” You ask in a desperate tone.

“YES! IT'S IN THE KITCHEN, IF YOU’LL- … AND THERE SHE GOES,” he says to himself as you immediately bolt out of the door. You rocket down the stairs, leaving Papyrus behind in your room. 

You sprint downstairs, stopping at the landing on the second floor. As you pivot to turn onto the next set of stairs, intent on finding the pizza in the kitchen, you suddenly feel a tight force surrounding you, anchoring you to the ground. It’s as if a heavy weight was wrapped around your chest, pulling you towards the floor with a strength you were not able to fight.

You struggle, kicking out with your legs. You don’t fall over when you pull your legs off of the floor, staying exactly in place as if stuck to that point in space with a pin. You kick the air again in a futile attempt at movement, but stop immediately when the force around you tightens its grip, becoming slightly painful.

“HUMAN,” a sharp voice says from behind you. The force turns you around without any input from your body. “I THINK IT'S TIME WE HAD OUR CHAT.” Black?

Sure enough, the small skeleton is holding you tightly to the ground with a red-purple magic, hand extended in a claw-like grip. He sneers at you and twists his hand slightly, allowing the magic to squeeze you tighter.

“SO. WHY ARE YOU HERE, HUMAN?” He asks, stepping closer to you. Where was Papyrus? You’d left him in your room, but he should be coming down soon, right? You can hear voices downstairs, but they don’t seem to have heard anything up here.

When you don’t respond, you see his hand twitch, and squeeze. In response, the magic around you tightens as well. You can feel your heart pounding in your chest, air in your lungs slowly leaving you as the force restricts you further. A sharp pain shoots through your torso, and you just barely hold back a yelp. You feel something form in your chest, but force it down. You didn’t… you didn’t need that right now.

You start feeling woozy, a light, airy feeling in your head increasing as you are made unable to breathe. The edged pains continue to move through your chest, only heightened by your lack of air. The ball in your chest grows, becoming something that felt like a tennis ball in size. You knew if you looked down, you wouldn’t actually see anything, but you felt it all the same.

“I…” you wheeze, truly unable to get words out. He seems to notice your plight and loosens the grip of the magic slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” An obvious lie, but it was all your oxygen-starved brain could come up with.

Wow. He does _not_ look happy. His face contorts into one of rage, and he raises his hand again, stepping so close that his face almost touches yours.

“WHY.” Tighten. “ARE.” Tighten. “YOU.” Tighten. “HERE.” Tighten.

And everything was so tight, and you thought you were _safe_ , but obviously not, and you just wanted your GODDAMN pizza! And you… and you…!

And with the last squeeze, you scream, unable to hold back the yell of pain any longer. Your eyes squeeze shut, and the lump in your chest explodes, shooting raw energy out and around you in sharp waves. As the energy forcefully leaves your body with your fear and pain, your muscles tighten and spasm with the effort of holding it in. You- you didn’t want to-!

Black shrieks, stumbling back and falling, all the while clutching his arm. Immediately, you’re released from his hold, collapsing on the ground in an exhausted heap. Doing that took so much out of you, and you already regretted hurting Black, despite the pain he put you through.

Drained of energy, and nearly blinded by your exhaustion, you crawl over to Black. He looked okay, if speechless. You hoped his arm would be alright. Your eyes brim with tears. You couldn’t even keep yourself under control for _one_ day!

Black sees you approaching and scrambles back on his hands, eyeing you with what you could only describe as fear. “YOU CAN… YOU CAN USE MAGIC?” Black asks incredulously, after a moment. You flinch back from his gaze, curling up on yourself slightly, tears streaming down your cheeks.

You hear a sigh from behind you. 

“BLACK, YOU REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE PUSHED HER LIKE THAT.” You can hear Papyrus walk up to you from behind, so you turn. When you lift your gaze, you see him offering arms of comfort. After a second of deliberation you tentatively accept the embrace, burying your face in his scarf, openly sobbing now. He moves to wrap your legs around his waist, and stands up. “I EXPECT YOU WILL BE TELLING THE OTHERS… I HOPE YOU DO NOT, BUT PLEASE DO NOT HOLD A GRUDGE. SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH A LOT.” And with that, Papyrus turns with you in his arms, and marches you straight upstairs, and back to your room. You cling to him as if he was the only thing in existence, as if you let go, you might die.

On the way up, you think you can hear Black mumbling to himself.

“The human can… it’s a…” 

Then the door closes behind you two, and all is silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh boy. And so the plot begins!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	3. Music To My Ears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have a chat with several skeletons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“hey,” You hear a knock on your bedroom door the morning after your...accident. “can i come in?” Sounds like… Red? Maybe? Honestly, you hadn’t talked much.

You cautiously pad over to the door and crack it open. Yep, Red.

“What do you need?” You ask hesitantly. You don’t think Black told anyone about the ‘magic stuff’, and you _know_ Papyrus wouldn’t, so you had no idea why he was here.

“nothin special. jus’ wanted to talk to our new housemate, get to know you. or, i could… _get to know you_ ,” Red offers in a joking tone, wiggling his brows.

“Eeeeehhhh, nah, I’m going to have to pass on that last offer, but the first one sounds okay?” You nervously respond, twisting your ring around your finger. You open the door wider, and he walks into the room. “There’s not really any seating in here unless you want to sit on my bed. I’ll just… sit on the floor?”

“nonsense! you should sit with me. i don’t bite,” Red grins, baring his sharp teeth.

Uncomfortable, but unwilling to refuse, you climb back up onto your bed, allowing him up after you. 

Red seems to notice how tense you are, and softens a little. “hey, it’s alright. i’m really not gonna try anything. you said no.”

You take a deep breath, and release it, forcing yourself to relax. You believed him, his tone seemed sincere.

“So… what do you want to know about me?” You ask with a guarded tone. You fidget slightly, hands moving together so you can spin your ring around your finger again.

“eh. the basics. where you come from, your favorite stuff, i dunno.”

“I come from… not here,” you explain unhelpfully. “That’s- that’s all I really want to say about that.”

“hmm. cryptic, mysterious past,” Red nods his head, leaning back on the soft bedding with his hands. “hell, i can get behind that. you don’t gotta spill nothin, sweetheart.”

“As for stuff I like…” you train your eyes down at your ring as you think. “I used to draw a lot. Um. I liked reading, and… my music,” you end your sentence on a sad note.

“what do you mean ‘used to’? ya had a life before comin here, right?” At your bug eyed expression, he holds up a hand in defense. “sorry, sorry. mystery.” His legs dangle over the opening by the ladder, and he gives them a small kick, almost like a child would. “so you don’t… have any of that stuff anymore?”

You pause for a second, then shake your head sadly. “I used to… I never went anywhere in public without my earphones, and my phone. I felt more secure that way, I guess. Everything seemed less… noisy.” You tear your gaze away from your hands and look up at him for a brief second. “As you probably know, I don’t really have anything with me.”

“and your drawing?”

“It’s been years, I-” You cut yourself off before you can spill too much. “I’m probably no good at it anymore.”

“i don’t know much about that kind of stuff,” Red admits, shrugging, “but i bet if ya picked it back up, you’d probably get it back pretty fuckin fast.” He nudges your shoulder with a conspiratorial grin. You smile back at him. Though you hardly knew him, he seemed kind, if not also slightly crude.

He hops down from the bed, a soft poof reaching your ears as the soft carpet absorbs the impact.

“well, nice chat. thanks for having me, i won’t keep ya any longer with my presence,” he grins. As he saunters towards the door, you feel the urge to bid him goodbye, so you do.

“Bye, Red,” you call, waving. He gives you a surprised look at your chirpy little expression, then continues out the door, letting it click shut behind him.

You collapse back onto your pillow, one hand folded over your face. _That_ was enough social interaction to start off your morning. 

You can hear birds singing from outside. Kind of annoying, honestly. You sigh dramatically, you guess you had to get up.

By the time you make it downstairs, wearing yesterday’s clothes (you still couldn’t bear to put on what you had from…), it’s already an hour later than the time when Red has walked in.

You were glad you’d taken the time to talk to Red. Despite how he looked, he seemed nice. You wander about the house aimlessly, unsure of what exactly to do. You needed someone to direct you, to guide you.

You freeze in your tracks when you reach the dining room, and it’s completely empty aside from Orange, and Black.

Black didn’t snitch, right? Red would have known, you knew he would. You weren’t sure _why_ you knew he would, but he seemed like the kind of guy that knew everybody’s secrets. Or maybe not.

You turn to leave the room, when Orange calls out, “hey. you want breakfast?” You turn back to see him holding out a piece of toast. You feel awfully like fish going after a hook, but you’re hungry, so you take it anyway, sitting next to Orange.

You take a bite of the toast, sneaking a glance at Black. His arm _looked_ fine, so that was good, but you knew he was probably still angry with you.

“so, you’ve met everyone?” Orange asks after a few moments of silence, and you nod, mouth too full to respond properly. “good. you can ask me about anything you don’t know.”

You swallow your toast heavily, then tentatively ask, “But won’t that get annoying after a while?”

He shrugs. “nah. and it’s a better alternative than asking someone like fell, or black,” he responds, giving Black the stink eye.

“ _EXCUSE_ ME,” Black immediately responds, setting his fork down with a clink. “THE HUMAN CAN ASK WHATEVER IT WANTS.” He stares Orange down. You’re fairly certain that he never would have offered that if Orange hadn’t issued his blatant challenge, but it was a step. Despite his previous statement, you catch a small flick of his eyelights in your direction, almost like he was… afraid of you? That didn’t make sense, he was strong enough to easily overpower you!

“faye probably wouldn’t want to ask you anyway, considering how rude you’ve been to her,” Orange comments offhand, taking a bite of his toast. Suddenly reminded of your own food, you also eat some.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT ANYWAY? YOU WEREN’T THERE!” Black looks paler than usual, somehow.

“use your head. blue was there,” Orange states with a scathing voice. You flinch back slightly, even though you aren’t the target.

“O-OH. YES! OF COURSE, BLUE WAS… THERE.” By the way his eyes dart around the room, it’s obvious he wasn’t exactly thinking of when you met him in his room. To be fair, that wasn’t what you had immediately thought of, either. He picks up his fork again in a rushed manner, scooping eggs into his mouth in an attempt to hide his blunder.

“i think you owe faye an apology,” Orange crows with a slight smirk.

“WH- NO! I WOULD NEVER STOOP SO LOW AS TO APOLOGIZE TO THAT DISGUSTING, IMMORAL, FILTHY LITTLE HUM-”

“- **black**. I think that will be _two_ apologies, now,” Orange cuts him off, stare growing dangerous. Black’s face grows indignant, throwing his fork down onto his plate with a clatter, and roughly standing up from his chair.

The chair hits the wall behind him, and he stomps out of the room, all the while muttering under his breath. Orange sighs.

“i’m so glad my brother isn’t like him. i can’t even imagine how messed up pup must be, having been raised by someone like _that_.” 

You chew on that statement for a second. “Black is the older brother?” _That_ was odd. 

“yeah. you didn’t know? and so is blue.” Orange gives you a wink. “you should know that size doesn’t matter, honey.” 

He’s grinning way too widely for you to take that statement in an innocent manner. You immediately lean back, spluttering loudly with a flushed face. 

“chill, faye. i’m just joking,” Orange chuckles. “anyways, all of the sa- _shorter brothers_ are the older ones.” He looks slightly nervous for a split second, but the look vanishes just as soon as it was there.

With another bite, you finish your toast. You were still hungry, but you didn’t want to ask for more. This wasn’t your food, after all. Nothing in this house was yours, except maybe the clothing in the dresser— the dresser _also_ not being yours.

A low voice starts from the entrance to the room. 

“hey, what’s up?” You turn your head to see Sans walk into the room, holding a bottle of ketchup, and nothing else. 

What was he going to do with the ketchup? Drink it? No, that was gross. You were sure he had higher standards than-

…

He was drinking the ketchup.

You immediately turn your head away from him in disgust. “Why are you doing that?!” You exclaim with a tone of revulsion.

You immediately clap a hand over your mouth, shrinking back on yourself. That was rude, and you were _rude_ , and you were going to be reprimanded now and you were-

“because how else am i going to **_ketchup_** with you?” He jokes, a small smirk growing on his face.

You were… fine? They didn’t hate you? You _didn’t_ ruin everything with your big mouth?

Huh.

Orange laughs loudly at your right, jolting you out of your thought. “nice one.” It really wasn’t all that good of a joke, even by a pun’s standard. 

“so,” Sans starts, turning towards you. “how was your first day here? black and fell didn’t give you too much trouble, did they?” 

“No, no trouble at all!” You exclaim with a wavering grin. 

You _had_ almost suffocated in the second floor hallway, but Sans didn’t need to know that. Orange frowns in the corner of your vision, but doesn’t say anything.

“good to know,” Sans smiles. “you can tell me if anyone does something that makes you uncomfortable, promise.” And with that, he takes one more swig of the ketchup bottle, winking at your immediate cringe, and walks right out of the dining area.

You tap your fingers on the table nervously to mask the heavy quiet Sans left in the room. When Orange’s voice cuts through the silence without notice, you jump, chair skittering a little against the wood floors.

“who messed with you?” His voice is stone cold.

“No one did!” You reply with a forced grin, probably a little too quickly. Please believe me please believe me please believe me please-

“i don’t believe you,” Orange huffs, crossing his arms. “look, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but it would make it way easier if you did.”

“...Black,” you reluctantly reply after a couple seconds of weighted silence.

Orange looks you directly in the eye, perhaps searching for more lies, but then huffs, crosses his arms, and rolls his eyelights. 

“well _that_ explains the tension earlier. i suppose black owes you _three_ apologies now.” He uncrosses his arms and looks you in the eye. “and you’re gonna get them. i’ll make sure of it,” he promises. You falter slightly at his focused gaze. He didn’t seem like one to take his words lightly.

“O...kay?” Honestly, Black didn’t _need_ to apologize, you’d hurt him last night. If anything, you should be apologizing to him. But Orange didn’t know that. If he did, what he was saying would probably be a lot different. You look down at the table, moving your hands down to your lap to fidget with them there.

You startle when you feel his hand ruffle your hair, and while you still flinch slightly at the sudden touch, you allow it.

“he won’t act like a brat forever. well- no, that’s not true. but he won’t be as much of a complete and total ass.”

You look up at him, and his hand slides off of your head to rest on the table. “Thanks.”

Orange smiles softly. “no problem.”

 

———

 

You go back to your room sometime after Fell storms into the living room as you were reading a book from the upstairs study, thoroughly ruining the peace and quiet. He had been shouting something about Red leaving the house without telling him? Either way, Red was back now, so everything was fine.

The first thing you notice in your room is the stack of objects on your dresser. That hadn’t been there before. You move over to examine it, and grab a note sitting on the top.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got Papyrus to help me. Hope that’s alright.” It isn’t signed.

You look down at the small stack the pile was covering, and drop the note in your mingled shock and joy.

Tears spring up from the corners of your eyes as you extend a shaky hand to grab the empty sketchbook laying on your desk, and its accompanied set of pencils.

You leaf through the pages quickly, restraining the urge to cry. Red… he...

After your excitement over the sketchbook has reached its limits, you set it down like it was pure gold, which in your mind, it was.

You look back to the stack and freeze in utter disbelief, breathing quickening.

You move your quivering hand back to the pile and pick up your brand new smartphone, earphones already attached.

Red bought you a smartphone? Was he insane? These things cost hundreds of dollars!

If you were getting weepy before, now you outright sob as your shaky knees give out from under you, and you sink down, phone in hand.

You slip the earbuds into your ears. That was a sensation you hadn’t felt in… so long. You select a song, and press play, letting the soft tones filter out the gross sobbing.

 

You’d probably be here for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so sad, Alexa, play Despacito.
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	4. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” You ask, nervously tapping your foot in the middle of a department store. Your foot moved to the beat of your music playing through the gifted earbuds from Red.

“BECAUSE YOUR CLOTHING FROM BEFORE MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, AND YOU NEED CLOTHING.” Papyrus responds promptly, digging through a clothing rack.

“It doesn’t matter-”

“YES, IT DOES! EVEN I CAN SEE IT,” Blue interjects, crossing his arms. You jump at the unexpected interruption, fingers tightening around the phone Red got you instinctually. “YOU CAN ONLY WEAR THE SAME EXACT CLOTHES FOR SO LONG BEFORE IT’S OBVIOUS, FAYE.”

“But isn’t that a waste of clothing?” You were particularly worried about that.

“THE OLD OUTFITS WILL BE DONATED TO A NON-PROFIT CHARITY,” Papyrus responds in a muffled voice, head completely buried in clothing. “WHAT IS IMPORTANT…” he begins, then pops out holding a dress, “IS YOUR COMFORT!” He hands the dress off to Blue, who takes it quietly.

You take an earbud out, anticipating conversation. You didn’t want to be an annoyance by asking them to repeat themselves. You tuck the loose earbud into the collar of your shirt and tap your fingers on your leg nervously.

“I can’t ask you to spend this much on me!” You protest, though so far any protest you tried to put up had been completely ignored. 

“GOOD THING YOU ARE NOT ASKING,” Blue states solemnly. He moves over to join Papyrus in digging through the clothing, handing off the garments he’s carrying to you. You slip your phone in your pocket and accept it all with both arms. Damn, they were buying you a lot.

Blue pulls out a skirt, holding it up to you before frowning and putting it back. He does the same with a couple different skirts, before finally finding one he liked and draping it carefully on top of the mountain of clothing you were trying not to drop.

“AND, HONESTLY,” Papyrus continues the conversation, “DO YOU _KNOW_ HOW MUCH OUR GOLD IS WORTH UP HERE? YOU HUMANS REALLY LIKE ORANGE-YELLOWISH METALS,” Papyrus jokes, pulling a pair of pants from a folded pile. “ANYWAYS. THIS SHOPPING TRIP WILL NOT EVEN BE A DROP IN THE BUCKET. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT,” he waves you off, and drops the folded pile on top of the mound you carried. You stagger slightly, but don’t drop anything.

You finally slump in defeat. There’s no way you could win against two skeletons who wanted you to be happy. Something else itches at your mind, though.

“Why do you even care? Especially you,” you ask, glancing pointedly at Blue. “You don’t even know me.”

“JUST BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW YOU THAT WELL DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR WELL BEING!” Blue exclaims.

“But why even would you?” You mutter in an apathetic tone. Papyrus whirls around, gasping and dropping the shirt he was picking out for you. Blue darts down and picks it up, preferring his usual routine of holding it up to you, before tsking and folding it back up to set down on the display.

“EXCUSE ME? WHO SAID YOU COULD SELF-DEPRECATE ON _MY_ WATCH?” Papyrus exclaims defensively. “WE CARE BECAUSE DESPITE US ALL BEING A COMPLETELY FOREIGN SPECIES TO YOU, YOU ARE STILL KIND. THAT’S WHAT MATTERS.” You flush slightly at his immediate defense of your character, dropping a shoe. 

“B-but-”

“NO,” Papyrus deadpans, holding a finger over your mouth.

“But!-”

“NO.” Blue whirls around from his clothing search and joins Papyrus with another finger stopping you from speaking. You sigh heavily.

Papyrus gently picks up the shoe you dropped and places it back onto the stack of clothing. “NOW. WHICH ONE OF THESE TWO SHIRTS DO YOU LIKE BETTER?” 

 

———

 

When they force you into a dressing room with all of their clothing picks and refuse to let you out until you’ve tried everything on and shown them, you sigh and roll your eyes. You felt awful, taking advantage of them like this. They insisted, though, so maybe it was okay?

You’re wearing the second outfit they’d planned for you when you hear a large crash from outside the dressing room, followed by angry yelling.

You were prepared to ignore it, but when you hear the telltale sound of buzzing magic, and a young child’s voice, you immediately unlock the stall and poke your head out, to see the child cowering on the floor, clothing rack upended next to them, and a middle aged woman stooped over them, shouting.

“You fucking mage _fairies_ , thinking you can come in here and ruin everything! God will send you to hell for performing your witchcraft!” Then she screws up her face, and you can see it before it comes. 

The woman spits on the child. You see a weak green shield of magic form around the child, flickering in and out of view with their inexpertise. It was still better than anything _you_ could do, with how out of control you currently were.

“A goddamn fairy like you shouldn’t even be walking the planet. It’s no wonder your parents abandoned you when those fucking demons came out from depths of hell themselves, and left you with me!”

You step out of the dressing room a little further, and it clicks shut behind you. You see Papyrus and Blue whip their heads from the ongoing scene to you, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights.

“This mage shit will be beaten out of you, I swear to the Lord himself!” She stoops down and yanks the child up by the arm. “If it weren’t for the money this godforsaken country gives me for taking your sorry ass in, I would have sent you to the government a long time ago!”

Before you can blink you’re already halfway across the room, being held back by Papyrus, who appears to be exerting his full strength to keep you from moving any further. You struggle, digging your feet behind you to push forward, ever so slightly. You feel a large bundle of magic form in your chest, itching to be let out. You move just a centimeter forward and-

“Hey,” Papyrus whispers, voice uncharacteristically soft. You immediately startle, struggle lessening. You look up to see the resolute look in Papyrus’s eye sockets. “Go back into the dressing room,” he states firmly.

“Wh- But!”

You don’t get another word out before Blue marches straight past you, sleeves rolled up and looking like he could melt titanium with his gaze. You look back at Papyrus, who gives you a knowing look. You sigh. He was right. And you were wearing the store’s clothing.

You pretend not to hear the muffled yells and crashes as you change from outfit to outfit, showing Papyrus with each new change, but you do hear. With every yell the woman lets out, every crash of a clothing rack, every sharp buzz of magic that you hear, the magic pressing painfully in your chest lessens ever so slightly, until finally it's gone.

And you enjoy every second of it. You think your respect for Blue just quadrupled in the past five seconds alone. By the time you’re done with all the clothing, having chosen what fit and what didn’t, what you liked and what looked like actual garbage, Blue has already plopped himself back down in a chair outside the dressing room, looking triumphant. 

“SHE HAS BEEN DETAINED BY THE LOCAL POLICE. THE CHILD IS BEING SENT TO HIS GRANDPARENTS.” Blue smiles at you, and you can’t help but give him a wavering smile back as you clutch your headphones in your hand.

Thank god Papyrus stopped you. You didn’t need anyone else knowing about your magic, especially not someone you lived with. And there were cameras in here. You couldn’t afford to get caught by those.

You ring your clothes up, and gape in awe when Papyrus doesn’t even _blink_ at the several-hundred-dollar total and swipes his card. You did _not_ know how he kept his cool.

“I… I don’t know how to thank you enough,” you splutter out while you load the bags into Papyrus’s car. The thought of wearing your old clothing had been making your skin crawl. You still felt a twinge in guilt in your chest at inconveniencing Papyrus and Blue like this… and you felt selfish. 

You sit in the backseat of the car—Blue called shotgun—and Papyrus drives you all home.

 

———

 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MADE THEM BUY YOU ALL OF THAT,” a scathing voice calls from behind you as you lug the last of the bags up to your room. You’d insisted on bringing it up, it was the least you could do.

You turn to see Fell stalking towards you, scowl tightly formed on his face and danger spelled out in his eyelights. You scamper back slightly. “I d-didn’t… I didn’t _make_ them, they insis-” your fingers clench around the bags until your knuckles turn white.

“TCH. AND NOW DENYING IT. YOU KNOW, HUMAN, YOU MAY ACT KIND, BUT WE BOTH KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE,” Fell croons. He leans in towards you, and you lean back, shaking. You trip over the stair step behind you, falling flat onto the ground, bag dropping.

You can feel your face grow paler as you feel the small swell of magic in your chest again. No. You were _not_ going to hurt him. You refuse. You push with all the determination you have and force it away. You’d had such a good day today, you weren’t going to ruin it by lashing out.

Fell leans in until his teeth are so close to your ear that you can just barely feel them brush your skin. You shiver as he grasps your wrist, digging his sharp fingers into your soft flesh, and opens his mouth.

“YOU’RE JUST A HUMAN, YES? A GREEDY, DISGUSTING, _SELFISH_ HUMAN.”

_You were selfish._

_You were selfish, you knew it._

_Even as you were laid out on the table in the bright lighting and you-_

_Even as you were with your parents and your mother croons a chorus of “selfish”._

_Selfish._

_Selfish._

_You were-_

“faye!” You feel something rip you away from Fell’s grip and drag you back. A growling sound resounds from in front of you, and whoever grabbed you stands protectively in front of you. “boss! stop!” He shouts, desperation apparent in his voice. “ _papyrus_! stop!” Finally you hear the sounds of a struggle cease, and the harsh stomping of boots slowly leave.

You don’t know what’s happening and you

You’re so selfish why did you think you were justified in getting all these new things and

_You were being dragged away from your home and you were never going to-_

You feel an earbud slip into your ear, then the other, and a soft music starts playing. You freeze at the sudden intrusion, before realizing that it had caused no harm, and curl up into yourself, shaking, rocking.

A heavy weight drapes across your shoulders, and you just barely register that it’s an arm before you’re pulled into a half hug. You struggle with your breathing, and you can’t get enough air you can’t get enough and you can’t

A hand slowly starts petting your hair and you relax into the hug, still shaking, and now openly weeping. You grip the… sweater? You grip the sweater with both hands and sob, tears soaking into the jacket. Whoever is holding you is shaking just as much as you are.

Through your blurry vision you can tell that your new clothing spilled _everywhere_ when you dropped the bag, and wouldn’t that just sum up your life? God, you really fucked up _everything_ , didn’t you? You grip the sweater a little tighter, burying your face into the material.

The shaking has slowed down some, your breathing is starting to steady. You didn’t feel nearly as ready to lash out with magic as you had before, that was good. You sigh a shaky breath, taking a hand off of the sweater and wrapping it around the body that was holding you. He shushes you softly as you rock back and forth. He might be saying something, but you can’t make it out, and it doesn’t really matter much to you right now, anyway.

You sit on the bottom step of the second floor, breathing heavily, face buried into Red’s jacket. You stay like that until Papyrus finally comes upstairs and removes you carefully, bringing you to your room, your safe spot. 

You don’t even mind that Red followed Papyrus in, and stands in the corner of your room with a concerned look on his face.

And you don’t mind when you wake up, and both of them are slumped against each other by the wall, obviously exhausted.

And you don’t mind when you slide down from your bed, curl up next to Papyrus on the ground, and fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Red is joining the Faye protection squad! *sips coffee and waits for the screams of anguish*
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	5. A Dog-Eat-Dog World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You hang out with Pup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

You’re reading alone in the study the next day when you hear the door loudly bang open. You jump slightly as you hear a loud click of heels on the floor, approaching you.

You don’t even want to look up at who it is— you already have a good idea. There’s a couple moments of silence, as if the skeleton is debating whether or not to follow through with what he is about to say. Then, finally, he lets it out.

“SORRY.” Fell spits the word out like it was poison.

You finally look up from your book, uncrossing your legs on the couch chair and tilting your gaze up to meet Fell’s eyes. 

“What?” You ask in confusion. You’d been expecting a sharp remark on your character, not an apology.

He grits his teeth. “I. AM. SORRY.” His eye lights flick away from you to stare at the ceiling, and he thrusts his hands out. You shift your gaze down to see that he’s attempting to give you something. 

“Why are you apologizing to me? You were right,” you hum thoughtfully, reaching out to dogear your page and set the book down on the table next to you. You fold your hands in your lap and fidget with your ring.

“YES, I W-” He grimaces, stopping himself. “AAARGH, WILL YOU JUST-” He drops the gift in your lap and looks at you for a couple seconds.

“Your apology, while unwarranted, is accepted.”

“UNWARRANT-... HUMAN? DO YOU NOT HAVE A CLEAR MEMORY OF LAST NIGHT?”

“I remember perfectly fine.”

“YOU…” He trails off, staring at you for a few more moments, before growling in frustration and storming out of the room in anger. The door slams shut behind him, and you can hear his angry stomps all the way down to the second floor.

Well _that_ hadn’t sounded very sincere. You sigh, and look down at the object. A… Tupperware? Filled with what appeared to be lasagna? 

You crack the lid open slightly, mouth immediately watering at the smell. It smelled delicious! You scoop a bit of the sauce out of the container with your finger, testing it carefully. You knew better than to just dig right in— Papyrus’s spaghetti night a couple nights ago had cemented that lesson in your head.

It tasted as good as it smelled! You were mildly surprised, although you weren’t sure exactly why. It wasn’t like Papyrus and Fell were the same person, it was expected that they’d have different skill sets.

You close the Tupperware and set it next to you, collecting your thoughts. He… apologized to you? Why would he do that? He was right, you were a needy, ungrateful, selfi-. No. You needed to stop there. You didn’t want to have another fit.

You fidget with your ring a little more quickly. The only people who knew what he’d done were Red and Papyrus, right? And they’d been with you for a good portion of today, they couldn’t have had time to persuade Fell to apologize to you, _and_ given him enough time to cook the masterpiece next to you. 

Had he decided to say sorry on his own? You honestly hadn’t expected that of him. Perhaps you had judged his character too quickly?

He wasn’t the best at apologies, that much was clear. But he’d put in an effort. You doubted Black would ever do as much. You weren’t going to bug him about it either way, especially since you knew he hadn’t told anyone about what happened. You suspected his arm was still screwed up because of you. You knew enough of monsters to know that they had healing magic, so if he’d told somebody, his arm would be better by now, wouldn’t it? But you still noticed small winces if he did something with the arm you’d hurt.

You frown. Maybe you should talk to him?

Another time. Fell was more polite, anyway. He was higher on your list of priorities.

 _Man_ , you’d somehow managed to anger _both_ of the household brats in your first week. Figured.

You grab your new lasagna and make the short, across-the-hall trip to your room. Stashing it in an empty dresser drawer (you didn’t trust its deliciousness in the downstairs fridge), you leave to track down Fell’s room.

Blue had never shown you which room was which aside from his brother’s and his own, due to Black kicking Pup out of his room and derailing the whole tour. You’d just have to sleuth and figure it out, you supposed.

You skip Orange and Blue’s rooms, though you wanted to check them out sometime. They seemed nice, even if Orange was slightly… intimidating. At least he was on your side? Either way, you move to the third door, and knock softly.

A muffled voice answers you from inside. 

“who’sit?” Sounded like Pup. You crack the door open slightly and peer in. “ah, so you’ve finally decided to come say hi, huh?” You cringe slightly. You hadn’t talked to him much at all since you’d gotten here. He seemed nice, too. Well, nicer than two _other_ skeletons you could name. 

You supposed your talk with Fell could wait anyway.

“Uhm… yeah,” you reply with an uncertain tone, opening the door a little wider and stepping in. Now that you can see him a little closer, you see that he’s smoking. Inside the house. You… weren’t looking forward to dealing with that, but you’d put up with it. “Is this a bad time?”

“not at all, don’t worry about it.” He closes the lid to the laptop sitting in his lap, reaching up to take his headphones off of his head and rest them around his neck. “just experimenting.”

You close the door softly behind you, noticing that without the light from the hallway, this room was pretty dark. His curtains were drawn, and the light was out. It was noon, so he couldn’t block out the light _completely_ , but you did have to squint slightly to see anything.

“With what?” You ask tentatively. You’d grown better at asking questions ever since Orange encouraged you to do so. It was refreshing, like a part of you had been returned.

Pup looks surprised at your inquisition and pries his laptop lid back open, unhooking his headphones from the jack on the side. 

“i, uh… write music. it’s nothing impressive of course, kinda shit. you probably wouldn’t want to listen to it.” 

You almost take him at face value before studying his expression a little closer. There’s a heavily masked uncertainty in his eyes, a need to be liked.

Well, who were _you_ to deny him of that?

“I’d love to hear it!” You clap your hands together at your exclamation. It wasn’t a lie, you were curious to hear what he cooked up in his free time. Truth be told, you knew literally nothing about Pup, except for the fact that he was the younger sibling, so you were excited to learn about this new facet of who he was.

A small, hesitant smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. “you sure?”

You nod without hesitation, and his small smile immediately changes into a full on grin. He scoots over on his bed, patting the spot next to him and typing something frantically into his computer. 

When you sit down, he glances nervously at you for a second before taking the cigarette out of his mouth and snuffing it out on the ashtray on his dresser.

“i heard cigarettes and all that fuckin stuff are bad for humans. cancer and shit? not exactly sure _what_ that is, but it sounds bad. wouldn’t want you to die in the middle of listening to my music, right?” He asks, giving you a shaky smile. 

“Well,” you start, musing out loud, “it wouldn’t kill me _immediately_ , but I could start growing tumors and all that. Would die in maybe a couple years.” You shrug. “Still not desirable.” You give him an appreciative smile. By his brother’s behavior, you hadn’t expected him to be so kind. Then again, you knew for yourself that you couldn’t judge people by their siblings.

He smiles at you again before looking back at his screen and pressing play on whatever song he’d just brought up. The beginning notes trail out from the speakers on his laptop.

It was actually… pretty good!

It seemed to be a mix of techno and rock. The notes were composed in a rock-like style, but the artificial instruments that were used sounded more like something that would be used by a techno band. It was surprisingly nice to listen to.

Despite your touch repulsion towards strangers, you find yourself leaning against his shoulder, watching a bar scroll over Pup’s composed notes slowly, before it finally reached the end. The only other person you had no problem touching was Papyrus, except for when you’d shaken Orange’s hand when you first met him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that both Orange and Pup looked somewhat like Papyrus?

...You felt racist just _thinking_ that. They were all separate people. There had to be another reason, right?

When the final notes die off, you pull your head off of his shoulder reluctantly and turn to face him.

“I really liked it,” you exclaim with a big smile. 

“you did?” Honestly, you didn’t know why he seemed so confused by that. His music was good.

“Yeah! Why don’t _you_ like it?”

Pup immediately frowns, looking down at his laptop. 

“no reason in particular.” He looks to the side. “and m’lord doesn’t like it, anyways. he knows what’s good and what’s not.”

You tilt your head to the side in confusion. “M’lord? Who’s that?”

“my brother.” He doesn’t look like he thinks there’s anything wrong with what he just said.

“He makes you call him that? Why would you listen to him?”

Pup grimaces. “i’ve learned to just do what he says. it’s easier than the alternative.”

You look down at the bedspread, frowning in thought as you mentally trace the loopy pattern on his sheets. Finally, you look back up at him.

“You know what I think?” 

“hmm?”

You pause, taking a deep breath. You didn’t normally say things like this, but you were willing to make an exception this time. You grab Pup by the shoulders and look him in the eye.

“ _Fuck_ Black. You don’t have to listen to him. You’re fully grown.”

He pushes your hands off of his shoulders. “i’d rather just listen to what he says than have to deal with the punishment later.”

“Don’t you have magic? You could defend yourself,” you point out.

“you think i’m gonna raise a finger against m’lord?” He shakes his head. “nah. he may act like a real shithead sometimes, but he’s still my older brother. he raised me.”

You sigh. “You can’t keep letting him treat you like this.”

“what other alternative do you suggest?” Pup smirks at you, but you can tell that he’s just as uncertain about all of this as you are.

You swallow heavily. You… had an idea. It was probably a terrible idea, a truly awful idea that wouldn’t actually do anything, but it was an idea.

“I… actually do have an idea,” you respond in a hushed tone.

Pup blinks at you a couple times. “what are _you_ gonna do? you’re just a human. m’lord doesn’t listen to humans.”

“Well, first off, he’s not here right now. You can call him by his name. And second off…” you trail off slowly, biting your thumbnail with the nervous tension. You were gonna do it. Pup didn’t deserve to be treated like he was subservient to his brother, and you would make damn sure he no longer was.

“So. My… first night here. Black cornered me in the hallway on this floor.”

“what?” Pup cuts you off, “m’lo- _black_ did that and no one ever found out?”

“Well, Papyrus knows, but that’s besides the point,” you wave off his question. “He tried to hurt me, and in response I kind of…” you frown at the bedspread, unable to will your throat to produce the correct sounds to divulge your secret.

You huff, instead bringing up your hand, palm flat towards the ceiling. 

“what’re you doing?” Pup asks impatiently, fidgeting slightly in his sitting position. You shoot him a sharp look.

“Be patient.” You close your eyes. You’d lost your control over your magic after…

You’d try to get it back. You try and remember what it was like to use it when you first discovered your magic. The monsters had been freed, and magic was unleashed on the world because of it. You had magic in your bloodline, you were practically _born_ to wield it.

You were… a Mage.

All at once, a small pit forms in your chest and drains down your arm, pooling in your hand like water. You will it to form a couple sparks, you couldn’t really do much more than that.

They fizz and pop above your hand. After your display is finished, you close your hand and dispel the magic back into your body.

You open your eyes slowly. “I did that. Except… less small. And more…,” you pause, wincing, “painful. And now he’s scared of me. Whoops?”

After a couple seconds of dead silence, you tear your gaze away from your hand and back to Pup. He looks overwhelmed. You reach out a tentative hand to poke him.

“Are you okay?” 

He snaps out of his stupor, eyes flicking down to you in shock.

“you’re a mage,” he states decisively. You shrug.

“Yeah.”

“that’s pretty uncommon.”

“Common enough for me to be one. We saw a kid at the store yesterday that was one also.”

He thinks for a couple seconds. “is that why you’re here?” 

You wince. “I don’t talk about why I’m here. Black learned that lesson the hard way.” You shake your head to clear the muddle taking up your brain. “Either way, he’s not gonna mess with you if I’m there.”

“i don’t need protecting,” He growls at the implication, glaring at you.

“I know you don’t,” you reply quickly. “You can take care of yourself. But you don’t seem willing to. So I can help you there.”

“i’m not helpless,” he says, holding his arms in a protective manner, like he was hugging himself. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than you. “trust me on this one. i’ve done shit that you wouldn’t dream of.”

“It’s okay to need help once in a while.” You give him a supportive look. It was especially okay, considering the fact that he was undergoing what seemed to be continual emotional abuse. Even the strongest person would need help with overcoming that. You reach out and touch his arm. “I don’t think you’re weak, or helpless. I don’t think you can’t take care of yourself. I just want to help you with your brother. Will you let me do that?”

He takes a deep breath, releasing it shakily. He shakes his head back and forth like what you had just said was the most hilarious thing he’d ever heard. You hear a small laugh under his breath before he finally speaks up. 

“yeah, fine.” He closes his laptop screen and grabs something from his pocket. 

When he takes a cigarette out, you know it’s your time to leave. 

“Take care, okay?” You tell him with a soft smile, standing up from the bed. 

“yeah, yeah. i will.” He flicks his lighter a couple times to start the little flame up, and lights the cigarette, taking a heavy drag from it.

You raise an eyebrow. “And here you are, _smoking_.”

“sweetheart,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes. He blows a thin stream of smoke from his mouth and flicks his eye lights back to you. “i don’t have lungs. or any physical matter to fuck up. i’ll be fine.” He takes another drag from the cigarette. 

You suppress a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” You turn towards the door, opening it and bathing in the light that flows into the dark room. You take a step out, but turn your head at the last second. “See you later, Pup.”

“see ya.”

You leave his room, and close the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	6. A Lesson in Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You talk to Fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

After around a week of procrastinating (and what a glorious week that was), the lasagna was gone and you really needed to go talk to Fell. When you talked to Blue about the abandonment of the tour that had occurred, he seemed very dismayed at the realization, and immediately hopped up to finish it. At least you knew whose room was whose now. And Fell was next to last.

The order of the rooms was curious in and of itself. Most of the brothers were grouped together, except for Black and Pup. Blue and Orange were the first two. Then Pup, on his own. That made you frown. You hoped you could at least help to mend their sibling relationship. Then Sans, and next Papyrus, which wasn’t a surprise. Red and Fell were next, and finally Black. You were certain that if Blue hadn’t claimed the first room, and Orange the room after, that Pup would be even further from his brother than he already was.

You really felt bad for him, though you knew he wouldn’t want your pity. You knew if he wanted to, he’d be fully capable of taking care of himself, of making sure he was well respected. But you knew he wouldn’t stand up to his brother, it just wasn’t in him. Sometime, you’d work on that. 

But today, you had another fish to fry.

“Can I come in?” You knock quietly on Fell’s door. You knew he was in there, you heard him monologuing to himself from outside the door. 

There’s a muffled crashing sound, a worrying pause, then a shouted “NO!” from inside the room.

You sigh, and knock again. “Fell, I need to talk to you.” 

“I SAID NO!”

Time to pull out the big guns. Good thing you’d talked to Papyrus before attempting this. 

“Papyrus said that if you talk to me, he’ll buy you whatever you want from Hot Topic the next time you go out, and actually read your poetry for once.”

The door swings open almost immediately, revealing a very flushed skeleton. 

“FOR THE RECORD,” He snaps. “I DO _NOT_ SHOP AT HOT TOPIC, AND NEVER HAVE. NOR DO I WRITE POETRY FOR A BLOG ON TUMBLR.”

“I didn’t say anything about Tumblr,” you deadpan. He screeches in agitation, and you immediately flinch back, heart rate skyrocketing. Surprisingly, when he notices you startle, he actually calms down. 

Sighing heavily and placing a hand over his face, he grumbles, “JUST… COME INSIDE.”

You nervously step into the room, and Fell closes the door behind you, probably more roughly than needed.

Fell’s room was very… edgy. That’s the least offensive way you could describe it. It was becoming more abundantly clear that he did, in fact, shop at Hot Topic. And his room smelled almost intolerably like Axe body spray.

“Fell? You do know that Axe doesn’t actually make you more attractive to girls, right?” You wouldn’t put it past him to actually believe the commercials. His eye sockets shoot wide open, and you are suddenly incredibly sure that he hadn’t known that.

“W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? AS IF I WOULD EVER NEED TO USE SUCH A… SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED TACTIC TO…” he’s slowly but surely edging closer and closer to his nightstand, where you can clearly see a labeled can of Axe sitting. You raise a singular eyebrow at him.

He gives you a sheepish smile, stepping completely in front of it. You hear a bang and a crash, as if something had been knocked over. He hops away from the nightstand, the can of Axe notably missing. At least _that_ was over.

“Now. I’d like to talk about your apology a week ago,” you state, spinning your ring around your finger. You had to be assertive with him, or he’d take advantage. Even if assertive was normally the opposite of what you were.

“YEAH? SO WHAT? I GAVE YOU MY APOLOGY LASAGNA, IT’S _OVER_.” He scowls at you.

“It is _not_ over,” you reply, clenching both fists at your sides and hunching your shoulders. “You spat the word ‘sorry’ at me like it was the last thing you’d ever want to do, then shoved lasagna in my hands!” You pause, looking to the side. “It was really, _really_ good, by the way,” you mumble.

The most ridiculous flustered spluttering sound comes from Fell. You’re pretty sure the color of his face could beat out a tomato in a tomato-impersonation-contest. Easily. 

“I- I MEAN! OF COURSE IT WAS! NOTHING LESS THAN THE BEST FROM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PA- _FELL_!” 

What was it with these skeletons stumbling over their names? You didn’t stumble over _your_ name, and you’d only gotten it two weeks ago! You didn’t even know what he was originally going to say before he corrected himself. 

It probably didn’t matter, you were overthinking it as always.

“However good the lasagna was,” you continue, “it still doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t really apologize. And,” you hesitate, taking a second to glance at his conflicted face, “I think you do want to. Don’t you?”

“I… DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! SA- _RED_ -,” he cuts himself off, going slightly cross eyed at the mistake before continuing as if nothing had happened, “SIMPLY TOLD ME TO APOLOGIZE! NYAH HAH HAH! MY REPUTATION GOES UNTARNISHED!”

“No.” You reply simply, taking a step closer to him. “He didn’t. You decided to do that all on your own. And I just wanted to know _why_.”

“EVEN IF I _HAD_ DECIDED TO APOLOGIZE ON MY OWN,” Fell huffs, crossing his arms, “WHICH I DIDN’T! WHY WOULD YOU QUESTION THE APOLOGY? ISN’T IT OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS DESERVED?”

Now it was your turn to be confused. “What do you mean, ‘deserved’? You were right. I’m ungrateful. I’m… selfi-.” You stop yourself by closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. You weren’t going to have a panic attack in the middle of Edge McEdge face’s bedroom, and give him even more ammunition than he already had. “My point is that there was no need to apologize, since you didn’t do anything wrong. You told me the truth. I needed to hear it.”

Fell stares down at you, dumbfounded. “ _FUCK_ , YOU’RE EVEN MORE MESSED UP THAN MY _BROTHER_.”

You tilt your head up at him, but it doesn’t last long until you are swept off your feet.

“Fell, what are you-!” You jump out of your skin, the unwarranted touch sending chills down your spine.

“I REFUSE TO LET YOU BELIEVE THAT! IT IS ONE THING FOR ME TO CALL YOU THOSE THINGS, THINKING YOU WOULD SIMPLY FIGHT BACK. IT IS ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY TO CALL YOU THAT WHEN YOU HAVE NO DEFENSES. I MAY BE MANY THINGS: MEAN, CRUEL, TERRIBLE, BUT I WILL _NOT_ FIGHT A DEFENSELESS TARGET!” You hardly even understood what he was talking about, honestly. “THE SOONER YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF, THE SOONER I CAN GO BACK TO CALLING YOU RUDE AND DEGRADING THINGS WITHOUT COMPROMISING MY FAIR-FIGHT MORALS!”

And here you were thinking he was doing this for the greater good. Oh, well. At least it was a step?

He carries you outside, into the backyard. You think he’s about to lay you down in the grass, since he took you out here, and all, but instead he sets you down temporarily to unlock the shed, and sticks you in there with him.

“Fell, this really isn’t necessa-”

“NOW!” Fell cuts you off, “WE ARE GOING TO BE PERFORMING SELF-RESPECT EXERCISES! REPEAT AFTER ME!” He clears his nonexistent throat. “I AM RUBBER, YOU ARE GLUE!”

You look at him like he’s insane. “What do you even think this is going to d-”

“REPEAT. AFTER. ME!” Fell yells, the last word ending in an ear-piercing shriek, glaring at you with a look that could kill. “I AM RUBBER, YOU ARE GLUE!”

Feeling like an idiotic child, you say with your most unenthused voice, “I am rubber, you are glue.” You pick at the flaky wooden flooring of the shed. They should really get this refurbished.

No sooner have you picked a large chip from the floor, than Fell shoots a hand out to grab your wrist, and pull it from your current activity. “AGAIN. WITH MORE SPIRIT!” He lets go of your hand, tilting his head up to the ceiling and clenching both fists by his chest. “I AM RUBBER, YOU ARE GLUE!” You think you might actually be going deaf.

Weakly, you shout, “I am rubber, you are glue!” Due to the ridiculousness of your current situation, you can’t help but let out a small giggle. You may be wrong, but you think Fell suppresses a small smile at that. He flicks his eye lights back up to the ceiling.

“WHAT YOU SAY BOUNCES OFF OF ME, AND STICKS TO YOU!”

“What you say bounces off of me, and sticks to you!” You weren’t sure if you would actually feel any better about yourself after this ‘therapy’, but it was nice to see this side of Fell. He may pretend otherwise, but you think he’s actually trying to make you feel better right now.

“AGAIN!”

“I am rubber, you are glue! What you say bounces off of me, and sticks to you!”

“AGAIN!”

And so goes the next hour or two, shouting various childish phrases into nothingness to mend your self esteem. It probably doesn’t change much, in the long run, and probably damaged your voice and hearing more than anything else, but you find yourself with a new respect for Fell. 

When your voice finally squeaks out of existence, completely hoarse due to the hours of screaming without water, Fell calls it quits.

“NOW! IS YOUR SELF-ESTEEM SUFFICIENTLY REPAIRED FOR ME TO CONTINUE MERCILESSLY MOCKING YOU WITHOUT REMORSE?!” 

You give him a look. You couldn’t talk.

He at least has the dignity to look sheepish. “AH. YES. SORRY ABOUT YOUR VOICE AND ALL.” 

He...apologized?

Fell’s eyes widen and he claps both hands over his mouth. You bounce up and down in your sitting position, pointing at him frantically. Fell apologized for something! And it sounded sincere! 

You know what Fell did to you last week was awful. Probably something that should take longer to forgive. But honestly, you were tired of holding grudges. And he’d made excellent progress today! Hadn’t Papyrus said that once Fell warmed up to you, he’d be a lot more pleasant? 

You can forgive him. For more than just your voice, that is.

You think you can beat one more emotional wall tonight, as well. As difficult as it may be to do what you were about to do, you brace yourself anyway. You needed it, he needed it, and it would help everything in the long run. So you stand up, march over to Fell, and do the unthinkable.

You wrap your arms around his chest in a hug. You know he probably didn’t deserve a hug from you, and you probably didn’t need to provide him with any comfort, but it was nice either way. Your aversion to touch flees rather quickly, most likely due to your raw determination to do the right thing. You think you judged Fell too quickly, before.

You notice the way he immediately stiffens at the contact, going completely rigid. Had he never had a hug before? That was sad if it was true. You hold him for a little longer, trying to rectify the possibility that no one had ever provided him with even this one, small comfort before. He smelled like cinnamon. 

You give him one last squeeze before pulling away, noting his sudden silence. You look him in the eye, your attempt at somehow wordlessly communicating an ‘I forgive you’. You think he understands. He blinks slowly at you a couple times, not moving at all.

He reaches out, and touches your face, then pulls back, arm at his side. And slumps to the ground in utter defeat, cheeks quickly flushing a deep, burning red. You think you hear what sounds like a teakettle emitting from Fell’s general direction, but you’re honestly unsure due to the high pitch.

Then he stands up, walks to the door, and leaves.

 

You think you made a difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	7. Wanna Play Smash?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You play Smash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“DO YOU WANNA PLAY?”

You look up from your phone at Blue’s grinning face. He’s bouncing up and down slightly.

“Huh?”

“SANS, ORANGE, AND I ARE PLAYING SMASH! DO YOU WANNA PLAY?”

You blink a couple times, but nod, saying “Sure.” You don’t really know how to play, but you figure you’ll at least try. Blue offers his hand, and by the way he looks at you, you can tell it’s a question.

You take a deep breath, and nod, grabbing his hand. A large smile breaks out on his face, and he leads you to the computer room.

When you enter the room, Orange looks up from the screen and gives you a quick wave before he focuses back onto the screen with narrowed sockets. Sans leans against Orange as his fingers move quickly across the controller in a difficult move, and a loud sound plays from the screen.

Orange lets out a defeated sound and drops his controller to his side, dropping a hand across his face.

“damnit, sans. you knew i was distracted.”

Sans lets a teasing grin break out across his face. “not my fault that faye distracts you so much~”

Orange scowls at Sans then turns to you, smiling. “welcome to the loser lounge. we have cookies,” he gestures to a plate of chocolate chip cookies sitting at a table to the left of the couch. He looks to his brother. “thanks for bringing her in, blue.”

“NO PROBLEM!” He replies, releasing your hand. You were glad you decided to take it. You trusted him. He takes a spot next to Orange at the end of the couch, leaving you standing awkwardly near the door.

“are you gonna sit down?” Sans asks. Orange and Blue move away from Sans just a little to create more room, and you hesitantly sit down between them. You’re a little squished, and you don’t really like being touched this much, but you’ll deal with it. 

“So… Blue said we were playing Smash?” You ask, turning towards Sans. “Except, I’ve literally never played.”

“oh, faye,” Sans grins. “you are gonna get absolutely curb-stomped. sorry, not sorry. we don’t pull punches in this household.”

Orange nudges your side, drawing your attention to Blue, who is scrolling through options on the screen.

“SO… WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY AS? THERE ARE A LOT OF CHARACTERS!”

“Pikachu? He’s in this game?” You point Pikachu out when you see them, and Blue quickly selects them. You used to play Pokemon games when you were younger, so at least you recognized the Pokémon.

“yeah, it’s nintendo’s way of making sure you actually pay attention to them,” Sans comments offhand, grabbing a cookie and passing it to you. You look down at it and take a bite. “they put just enough of the big money characters, and then a ton of the characters that no one cares about.”

“like,” Orange continues, “who the hell is ‘villager’ and why is he so generic?”

“why did they even put him in this game when they could have put someone more interesting,” Sans muses.

“WOULD YOU GUYS STOP COMPLAINING? ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS HAVE THEIR OWN USES SO JUST SHUT IT,” Blue scowls, finishing selecting his own character. He was Link from the Legend of Zelda!

Sans chooses a character named Megaman, and Orange goes as Kirby. When Blue goes to start the match, Sans tosses you a controller and gives you a quick rundown of all the controls. You feel like you’re trying to drink from a fire hose, but you nod and focus on the screen.

You’re out within the first two minutes.

Honestly, better than you’d thought. It was Sans to ultimately deal the last blow, knocking you out of the arena entirely. You slump against Orange and watch the rest of the match without participation.

Midway through, when Blue has already kicked Sans two ways to next Christmas, Papyrus and Fell walk in.

“OH! ARE YOU PLAYING SMASH?” Papyrus asks, plopping down at your feet. You pat his head happily. Fell sits next to him. 

“Not me, anymore. I’m kinda bad at it.”

“hey, don’t put yourself down,” Sans replies, passing you yet another cookie. “that was your first time playing. two minutes is really good against blue for your first time.”

 

You glance over at Orange to see sweat starting to pool on his forehead. His fingers are flying across the buttons, pulling off moves in quick succession. It’s obvious he plays against his brother a lot. Blue doesn’t look like he’s straining much at all, looking fairly relaxed, but when you look back at the screen, he’s winning by a long shot.

Orange’s character is booted off the screen in a flash of light, and Blue wins the game, as expected. You had a feeling he would win all of these tournaments.

Orange huffs and drops the controller in his lap, extending his hand over you towards Sans, who automatically gives him a cookie. He eats it in one bite, like a heathen.

“nice job, bro,” He congratulates his brother after swallowing his cookie. “you really have a lot of skill.”

“JUST SPENT A LOT OF TIME PLAYING, IS ALL,” Blue waves off the praise. “IT’S NO BIG DEAL.”

“CAN WE PLAY THIS NEXT ROUND?” Papyrus asks, bouncing slightly.

“WHO SAID I EVEN WANTED TO PLAY?” Fell huffs, crossing his arms. Papyrus pokes Fell’s cheek.

“YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO~” Papyrus teases.

Fell grumbles but accepts a remote controller when it’s handed to him. 

Just then, the door creeps open, almost like whoever was opening was trying not to be noticed. Pup steps in cautiously, electric green headphones around his neck.

He looks very nervous. You would be too, if you were walking into a room where everyone was already laughing and shouting and having a good time.

Suddenly the previously cramped couch has more room. You move as close to Orange as you possibly can to make room as you beckon Pup over. Maybe you could make him feel more welcome. Papyrus moves to the side to let him by, then relaxes on your legs again when Pup sits down next to you.

There probably wasn’t really room for him, but hell would freeze over before you let him feel left out. Especially considering how you’d first met him, with his brother throwing him out of his room.

You’re shoulder to shoulder with Orange and Pup, but somehow, you don’t mind as much as you would have before. You look over and give Pup a tentative smile, glancing at Sans to prompt him to hand over the cookies. He does so, and another controller.

Papyrus chooses Captain Falcon as his character, but changes the colors so that his scarf is red. You giggle and poke his skull and he playfully swats your hand away. Fell pretends to huff through his choice, but you can tell that he is genuinely enjoying himself. He picks Ganondorf, who he proclaims to be the ‘coolest’ and ‘most evil’ one there. Fair enough.

You nudge Pup to pick his when it’s his turn— he was falling asleep on your shoulder— and he jerks awake and picks his character. Wario? Whatever.

Then Blue starts the game and you’re playing.

You may not have considered the fact that playing against six skeletons may be much more difficult than playing against three. 

You may not have considered the fact that half of them are pranksters.

Aaaand you’re dead. Thanks, Orange. You poke him in the cheekbone and he sticks an orange tongue out at you like a child. Huh. So he had one of those? Filing that away for future knowledge.

As the game progresses, Blue, of course, dominates the competition. He knocks out Fell rather easily, and Sans just after. 

Someone pokes you in the shoulder from behind. You whip your head around to see Red wiggle a couple fingers at you and munch on a cookie.

“Wh- how did you get in here?! I didn’t see you come in through the door!”

“shortcut,” he unhelpfully explains. There were no shortcuts leading into the room, just the one door. You roll your eyes. He must have snuck in while you were distracted.

Pup’s character, Wario, devours Papyrus’s character, Captain Falcon, whole.

wHAT

Red looks down at you, up at the screen, down at Pup, down at you, then shouts, “Vore!” At the top of his lungs.

You tilt your head. “What’s vore?”

Papyrus’s character pops out again, but he whirls around anyway, eye sockets wide. He lunges forward and smacks a hand over Red’s mouth.

“DO NOT. SAY ANOTHER WORD. TO FAYE.” Papyrus’s character gets smacked off the screen by Link, controlled by Blue, who cackles and goes after Pup’s Wario.

Fell turns towards you, hand on chin. “VORE IS EATING ANOTHER PERSON IN A MANNER THAT CAN BE TAKEN AS SEXUAL OR FETISH-LIKE.”

Papyrus turns to him a fixes him with a death glare. “I _TRUSTED_ YOU.”

“Oh,” you respond. “That’s gross.” 

Sans nods solemnly and passes you the entire plate of cookies. You feel like you have been bequeathed a great honor.

Pup is actually… pretty _good_ at this game. You don’t know if he’d ever be good enough to beat Blue, but he’s actually putting up a fair fight! You silently cheer him on, and feed him cookies to keep him running as he frantically tries to keep from being thrown out of the arena by Blue. The thought of Pup winning, boosting his self esteem, gives you a warm feeling in your chest.

You really want Pup to win.

 

“AAAGH!” Blue yelps, flinching slightly as if he’d been shocked by the static from a balloon. That small lapse in concentration is enough to tip the scale in Pup’s favor, and Blue is knocked off of the platform, into the abyss below the arena, in a flash of light.

And the game ends.

Pup...won?

You look over at Blue, whose eyes are wide in shock, mouth agape. He clearly hadn’t lost in a long time. Then you look back at Pup. 

He’s looking right at you.

His grin stretched from metaphorical ear to metaphorical ear, hands shaking with the excitement of it all. It was completely unheard of for Blue to be bested in a video game, much less Smash!

He jumps up suddenly and tackles you in a hug, knocking Orange over into his brother. His headphones crash into your collarbones, which does hurt, but you don’t mind. He needs this. After you’ve accepted the fact that yes, this was happening, you wrap your arms around him and squeeze back, fingers digging into the fur lining of his jacket. He smelled like cigarettes and honey mustard.

He lets you go after a couple of moments, snatching the last cookie off the plate teetering precariously on your lap. You rub your sore collarbones, which you had a feeling would bruise from the force of the headphones being pressed into them, absentmindedly in a daze. That hug was… actually really nice. 

The rest of the game night goes really well! You even manage to knock a couple of people out of the run a couple of times, most notably Orange, but never win a match.

Red joins in eventually, playing as Yoshi of all characters. You weren’t going to question his motives. He does mildly well, at least better than you did. He royally kicks your ass the first round.

He first catches you off guard when he uses his character’s tongue to pull you into its mouth. You look at him, and say with your most deadpan voice,

“Vore.”

“FAYE!” Comes Papyrus’s shrill shriek. He turns on Fell. “THIS IS WHY YOU DO NOT SAY SUCH THINGS, FELL! LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”

When your Pikachu inevitability pops out, dazed, Red’s Yoshi knocks it off of the arena. You are really bad at this game.

Just then, the door comes crashing open. Black is standing in the doorway, soaking wet. 

“WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT OUTSIDE, AND WHY ARE THEY ASKING FOR A HUMAN NAMED Y/N?” He asks.

Your face pales. They’d found you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	8. Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

You’re immediately shaking, face pale.

You grab onto the coat of the person nearest you. You think it’s Pup, but you’re so panicked that you aren’t sure. 

“Y-you have to- you have to get me out o-of here! Now!”

The look on your face must be enough, because Pup’s expression hardens into one of resolve. He looks over to Black who is shaking his head disapprovingly, but grabs your hand anyway, and does… something. The world goes blurry, kind of funny. It spins on its axis just slightly, and all at once snaps. Then you appear again somewhere else.

You fall flat on your back, Pup sprawled halfway over you. You can feel leaves underneath you, and hear the crickets chirping. 

You sit up with a jerk and whirl your head around, looking around at every angle. It sounded like the rain was just beginning to stop, the last couple drops making their way through the trees to land on your face. You could just barely see the house from where you were, your bedroom window a small twinkling light—you must have left it on. By the densely packed trees surrounding you, it looks like you’re in the forest outside your bedroom window.

But how?

“P-Pup?” You start, but are cut off when he grabs you.

“what the hell was that?!” He asks harshly. You flinch. You weren’t expecting that from him. “you didn’t tell us you had the fuckin government on your tail! what the hell did ya do, kill someone?”

Like always in situations like this, your hands are spinning your ring around your finger like it’s the only thing powering a small third world country. You stutter nervously, trying to come up with the right words to explain your situation.

“no, she didn’t.”

You both whirl your heads around to see Sans standing meekly behind Pup. 

“how are you here?” Pup growls. “i took a shortcut. untraceable.”

Sans waves his hands in defense. “not that complicated. i fell asleep on you while you were playing. got caught up in your ‘port. sorry.” He shrugs, and puts his hands in his pockets. “anyways, she’s innocent. no blood on her hands. 0 EXP, 1 LV. as clean a slate as you can get.”

“It’s because of what I showed you, Pup. That’s why they’re after me.”

Pup’s eyes widen. “you don’t mean…?”

“what are you talking about?”

“she’s a fuckin mage. and she never thought it would be a good idea to let any of us know,” Pup explains, and you flinch at the bluntness. “black knows, but only because he was a prick. and i know, but only because black is a prick. either way it boils down to the fact that black is a prick.”

Sans sighs, scratching the back of his head and kicking dirt as he thinks. After a couple moments of silence, he finally speaks up, which makes you both jump.

“i assume this is why papyrus brought you here.”

It’s not a question. You nod.

“you don’t have to tell us anything,” Sans assures you, and you sigh in relief. “except. are they after you because you committed a crime, or some other misdeed? or are they just being the government and being creepy as always?” He kicks a rock.

“The… the second one.”

Sans curses under his breath.

Pup splutters, “b-what?! you mean, the government’s gonna rifle through our shit and she’s not gonna explain why?”

Sans gives him a serious look. “not if she doesn’t want to.” He sighs and runs a hand down his face as if he wanted to collapse face first into the soil. “i assume they’ve already done a headcount, which means that neither of us can go back for a day or so, or they’ll be suspicious.”

“So what until then?”

“just… wait here for a second. i’m gonna see what they’re doing, if they even know for sure that you’re with us. they might just leave if they don’t find you when they search the house.” He glances at you. “i’ll stay out of sight.”

And with a snap that don’t hear, but rather feel, he’s gone.

Your jaw drops. You can’t even stop the next words from spilling out of your mouth.

“Can you teach me to do that?” Is your first question. You know magic concentrations can be taught, if you have magic to begin with.

“wha-...right now?!” Pup whirls around. “seriously?”

“I mean, we don’t exactly have anything else to do, and I need to get my magic under control anyways, so I don’t see why not,” you shrug. Your shaking has mostly subsided. You don’t think they’ll be able to find you. Good.

“‘why not’”, he does air quotes, “is that shortcuts are some fuckin difficult magic. you aren’t gonna get it without havin the basics down first. also, do ya really think this is the time?”

“I…” you look down at the ground. “I guess not.”

You look back at the house. You hope Sans comes back soon. You didn’t know why Pup was acting like this. Actually, scratch that. You knew exactly why Pup was acting like this. And it was your fault.

Your fault.

It was-

“hey! you okay?”

You snap back to reality to find yourself kneeling in the dirt, fingers digging in your hair. Tears are beginning to prick at the corners of your eyes, but you quickly wipe them away. Pup hovers closely over you. You stumble to a stand.

“I’m f-fine!”

He reaches out hesitantly and touches your shoulder. “you know you can talk to me. we aren’t gonna like. i dunno. chase you out with torches and pitchforks if you tell us what happened.”

You push the hand off your shoulder and scowl. “I know, it’s just… it’s difficult to talk about.”

You feel the snap of a shortcut. Sans was back.

“looks like they’re turning the place upside down looking for you. though I overheard them saying that they were doing that at every house this side of the city. they don’t know where you are. they just got lucky this time.” Sans gives a reassuring smile.

Pup steps forward. “so they’ll leave? and won’t come back?”

“hopefully.”

You breathe a sigh of relief and collapse on the ground. You were absolutely exhausted. Your stomach growls.

And hungry.

“Do we have somewhere...somewhere to, to stay tonight?” You ask.

“i can book us a hotel room under ‘unlisted’ and shortcut you in. no cameras,” Sans offers. That sounds relatively safe. You nod in affirmation. And that way, you can get room service. You poke at a dry leaf. You wish you had the earbuds Red gave you, or the sketchbook. You’d done a couple pages in it already, though you didn’t like what you’d drawn.

Sans goes to do as suggested, but Pup stops him. 

“hold on.” He grabs Sans’s arm. Sans looks at him with a confused frown. “let me do it.”

“uh. why?”

“cause i never do anything.” He snatches the money out of Sans’s hand, and leaves.

Sans breaks the dead silence Pup leaves with a deadpan, 

“wow. he’s moody all of a sudden.”

“I think he’s upset because- because I won’t tell him about why all of this is happening.” You twist your ring around your finger nervously. “I will tell you one day. When I’m ready.” You look Sans directly in the eye socket. “That’s a promise.”

“i look forward to it,” he responds sincerely.

You sit down at the base of a tree, it seemed fairly dry there. It wasn’t as soggy as other areas of the forest from the rain. After a couple moments of deliberation, Sans sits next to you.

“so.” A couple seconds pass before he continues. “you’re a mage. that’s pretty nifty.”

You chuckle. “Yeah, it’s cool, I guess.” You draw your knees up to your chest. “Kind of wish I wasn’t, though.”

Sans gives you a confused look. “well, why not? it’s pretty uncommon among you humans, right? one in a couple thousand or so, yeah? that would be something i’d treasure, if i was you.” 

He lays back against the tree, and you let the sounds of the forest and the dripping water fill the void of silence his heavy statement left.

“It’s just...it’s because of it- my magic, that is, that all of this is happening. If I was a normal human-”

“-don’t say that,” He interjects. “you can’t help who you are any more than i can.” He looks down at the ground for a second, before looking back up at you. “you wanna know a secret?”

You tilt your head to the side, and he apparently takes this as a confirmation to continue.

“i only have 1 hp. 1 hope. that’s all. one good smack with intent to kill me and I’m dust. poof.” Sans gives a little poof effect with his hand, which you find morbidly entertaining. “i’m not the only one. red. orange. pup, too.”

“Why would you...would you even tell me any of that?” You squeeze your legs even tighter to you.

“i may not have known you for very long, but i’m a pretty good judge of character.” He chuckles like he just said a particularly funny joke, but you don’t understand what was so funny about it at all. “i can read your stats at a glance. it’s a sans thing.”

“A ‘Sans’ thing?”

His eyes bug out for a second before he clears his throat and corrects himself. “sorry. you know i say weird shit all the time. just accept it as it is.” 

You nod solemnly. It was the truth.

“either way, i can tell that you wouldn’t hurt any of us. you’re a good person, faye. or, y/n, or-”

“Don’t call me that.” You’re almost surprised at the tone of your own voice. He obviously picked your real name up from Black, when he said the government was asking for you. “Just. Don’t.”

Sans holds up two hands in surrender. “got it, got it. not your name anymore. done deal. won’t use it.”

You use your sweater sleeve to mop up the tears that are beginning to stream down your face. You aren’t having a panic attack, for once. You were just...crying. That was new. 

You feel like you needed...something. Something you’d had recently and hadn’t had for a long time before that. It was nice and it was on the tip of your tongue.

Oh.

Yeah. A hug.

Damn you, Pup.

And now you’re wrapped around Sans. You hated yourself for being so clingy when you got weepy. He almost smelled like a stuffed animal, if not for the smell of ketchup. His sweater was incredibly soft.

“uh… faye?”

You sob harder in response, digging your fingers into the plush material. It was probably soaking wet by now.

“uh. oh o-ok. um.” He shakily wraps his arms around you and awkwardly pats you on the back a couple times. “it’ll be… okay? bucko? friend? buddy pal?” 

You giggle through a sob, which makes you choke slightly. You cough a little, but end up breathing heavily instead of returning to your regularly scheduled sobbing.

“Thanks, Sans,” you laugh into his sweater.

“pff,” he snorts. “for what?!”

You feel the snap of a shortcut.

“i’m back. where are- oh. why are you crying? sans, what the fuck did you do?” Pup sounds exasperated.

“i didn’t do anything! well, i mean, we were talkin about stuff and then she started bawling, but I didn’t do it on purpose!” He defensively responds. He seems to realize his arms are still wrapped around you and quickly removes them, and you sit up, wiping the last of your tears from your eyes.

You give one more sniffle. “I’m fine, Pup. Just, all the… all the stuff going on, you know?”

He shuffles his feet, shoulders hunched. “yeah. we’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully. and hey,” he grins, “i got us a room!” He dangles a set of keycards in front of your face. “lady looked at me funny when i asked for three cards, seeing as there was jus’ the one of me.” He shrugs. “ah, well.” He hands you and Sans your cards and you slip it into a pocket.

“before we go home tomorrow i’ll run a sweep for bugs and the like on the house and our phones and stuff,” Sans offers. “make sure it’s safe. other than that, i don’t think they really knew that you were living with us. we were just next on the list to be searched.”

“That’s… really good,” you sigh in relief. You didn’t even want to think about what your life would be like if they got their hands on you again.

Sans offers a hand, and so does Pup, so you take both. And with the twisting and blurring sensation from before, and the sudden snap, you leave the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	9. And There Was Only One Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You stay in a hotel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter! :)
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“So...how is this supposed to work?” You ask, quirking an eyebrow at the single king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

“pup, really? you couldn’t book a room with at least two beds and couch? or a roll-out?” Sans groans, pinching his nasal bone.

Pup crosses his arms leaning forward with a scowl. “well, i’m _sorry_ , but the lady said there weren’t any. i dunno, something about every room being full because the government is shaking down every goddamn house this side of town!” The sarcasm lacing his voice is heavy.

“It’s fine, I’ll just sleep on the floor,” you offer. “Someone can take the couch.”

Both of them advance on you at the same time.

“no way in hell.”   
“you are _not_ sleeping on the floor.”

Sans and Pup freeze and look at eachother. Sans allows a small smirk to break out into his face.

“well, at least that’s one thing we agree on.”

You huff and cross your arms. “Well, I don’t see any other solution.”

“it’s obvious to me,” Pup grins. “one of us takes the bed with you, the other sleeps on the couch.”

“i’ve got back issues. dibs.”

“we’ve all got back issues, sans. pretty sure that’s a requirement of existence.” Pup grimaces, collapsing on the plush bed. 

“Don’t you sleep on that lumpy green excuse for a couch all the time?” You feel kind of bad for ganging up on Sans, but at this point you’re very tired and just want to go to bed, so you just need to pick a side.

“yeah, yeah, whatever. i get it. no one cares about the little guy.” 

“Actually, that’s a good point. I don’t think Pup would even fit on that couch. He’s pretty tall.” You aren’t even exaggerating. He was probably the tallest person in the household, back home. Which was funny, considering his brother was the shortest.

“whatever, dude,” Sans rolls his eyelights. “not fitting on the couch isn’t the only reason pup wants to sleep on the bed, though~”

“shut it, sans.” Pup growls. “can you not be annoying for like. one night?”

“sorry, no. that would require effort on my part.”

“i _swear_ to-”

“-H-hey!” You interject. “Stop! We need to order food, and get some sleep. Then we can go home. Sounds good, yeah?” 

There are a few mumbled ‘yeah’s and ‘whatever’s, and then Sans goes to order room service. You hop up onto the bed, once again wishing you had your phone. At least Pup had his. 

“Watcha listening to?” You ask, peeking over his shoulder. You lean against the pillow, barely able to hear music playing through his headphones but not enough to identify the title.

“just some generic bullshit.” He lifts one side of his headphones from his head so you can hear the music trailing out from it.

You give him a deadpan look. “That’s _your_ music.”

“is it? i hadn’t realized,” Pup exclaims in mock surprise.

“hey, doggie, sarcasm isn’t funny,” Sans stage whispers with a hand over the phone receiver. “yes, i’ll get-”

“Anyways, your music isn’t bullshit,” you tell him, as Sans places an order for two triple cheeseburgers, a large fry, a milkshake, and another triple cheeseburger on the side.

“and like. a lot of ketchup. at least three bottles of ketchup, minimum.” He pauses, as if listening. “what do you mean you don’t serve condiments as part of the main course?! i’m gonna leave a bad yelp review!” He grumbles. “anything you guys want?” Sans asks.

You gawk at Sans. “Dude. You’re gonna like. Die.”

“eh.” He shrugs, lapsing into a lazy drawl. “ain’t like i got a heart, or arteries to clog up. ‘sides, i haven’t eaten in like three hours. you plannin’ on starvin’ me?”

You stare at him for a couple more seconds, blinking owlishly at him before just accepting it as part of his lunacy. You would never understand these skeletons. You knew for a fact that it was possible to go even several days without food without overt ill effects.

“get me the same, but tell them to put extra honey mustard on the burgers and fries. you gotta be subtle with these guys, dude. they ain’t gonna empty their fuckin ketchup coffers to serve your every whim.” Pup rolls his eyes and goes back to scrolling through his social media feed.

“So, aside from bankrupting yourselving with room service fees, what else do you like to do in your spare time??” You exclaim sarcastically.

Sans gives you a death glare and mouths ‘sarcasm. n o.’ at you, dragging his thumb across his neck for emphasis.

“Just order me whatever. Soup. Something.” You fuckin loved soup.

“got it,” Sans replies, and relayed your order into the phone. Finally, he ends the call, and slumps onto the couch. “guess we got some time to kill before they bring our order.”

“Well, yeah, since you ordered enough to feed a third world country,” you quip. Man, you were getting sarcastic lately. Blame it on Pup. “I’m taking a shower.”

So you take a shower. The hotel soaps were pretty nice, jasmine scented, and when you emerge, you realize you don’t have any clean clothes. Ignoring the immediate feeling like your shower was for nothing, you put your dirty clothes back on. You’d deal with it.

“c’mon, that’s gotta be worth at _least_ $250.” Sans crows when you step out the door. You peek around the corner to see him watching a reality show. “pup, look at this guy. storage unit has vintage vinyls from the 60s and he thinks he can price it at $175.” He rolls his eyes.

Pup squints his eyes at the television. “i think one of those vinyls fell underground where i come from. was my fav’rite.”

“Didn’t you all come from the same place?” You ask, startling them. Pup falls off the edge of the bed.

“faye, you gotta announce your presence or somethin before you give a skeleton a heart attack,” Sans exhales, ignoring the contradictory nature of that statement.

“You don’t have a heart.”

“yeah, yeah, whatever. anyways, what were you asking about again?” His grin wavers at the edges.

You sigh and run a hand down your face. “Just… nevermind.”

There’s a knock at the hotel door.

Pup pops up from the floor at the side of the bed. “food’s here!” He chirps. “fuckin finally.” He practically skips over to the door. You can’t see it from this angle, but when the door pops open, Sans’s eyes widen. 

He quickly lunges towards you before whoever was behind the door can see him, and grabs you. Suddenly, you’re in some kind of supply closet.

You stumble backwards, bumping into a broom, which falls to the ground with a large clatter.

“What are you-” you start, but Sans shoves his hand over your mouth, muffling your voice. He places a finger over his teeth, signaling silence. 

Sans drags his phone out of his pocket, typing a message out for you to see.

‘ _government checking the hotel. was showing pup a warrant_.’

The phone vibrates- a text from Pup.

 **Pup-ular Guy:** “ _dude checked the room over one time and left. said something into a device on his hip, but it sounded like he isn’t coming back_.”

Another text comes through. 

**Pup-ular Guy:** “ _hotels must be part of their checklist. i dunno. at least our room is done with. you can bring her back now_.”

Sans squints at his phone and taps out a single phrase.

 **Sans-ational:** “ _security word_?”

It’s only a moment before Pup responds.

 **Pup-ular Guy** : “ _gaster_.”

The word tickles your brain in a funny way, like it wasn’t supposed to exist on this plane of reality. It slipped out of your grasp almost immediately, and when Sans put his phone away, you found that you couldn’t quite remember what it was.

Sans gives you a reassuring smile and grabs your hand, squeezing it comfortingly before teleporting you back to your room, where Pup was lounging on the bed.

“quick thinking, sans,” Pup looks relieved. “i’m glad you got her out of here. i should have checked the door before i opened it.” He hunches his shoulders, eyes downcast.

You’re by his side in an instant. He was not feeling bad on your watch. 

“Hey, it’s okay! I’m alright. If you hadn’t answered at all, or hesitated, they would have known something was up, right?” You sling an arm around him in a half hug, giving him a comforting smile.

“you did fine, pup,” Sans joins you. You shoot him an appreciative nod.

Eventually the food arrives for real, and the room comes to smell like a fast food joint during rush hour. 

“Was it really necessary to order six triple cheeseburgers between the two of you?” You ask in disgust as Sans polishes off his second ketchup-dripping burger. He sucks his fingers clean and starts in on the third.

Your soup is pretty fucking amazing, just as you’d thought it would be. Soup would never let you down, unlike literally everything else in your life.

And then, you’re done. You trundle your dirty dishes into the outside hall, which leaves a gargantuan mess which you figure is not your problem. 

You go to bed, falling asleep before your head even hits the pillow. You’d had an eventful day.

 

_You were… stuck. You couldn’t move. Your wrists were strapped to the table. Your mother walks up to you and brushes a strand of hair out of your face._

_“This is your fault, you know.”_

_nonononNoNOnOnononoNonoNoNonono_

_That wasn’t right. Your mother had never been here before. She wasn’t allowed to be here. She got rid of you._

_“If only you were normal, you wouldn’t be here.”_

_You struggle against your restraints, but they only tighten even further. Your mother dissolves into thin air, particles swirling into nothingness._

_You’re surrounded on all sides by the Coats. Their eyes bore into you._

_They’re here._   
_They’re here._   
_They’re here._

 

_For you._

 

Your eyes shoot open, heart pounding like you’ve just run a marathon. You make a small huffing noise before realizing that you are clutching something for dear life.

Um.

Some _one_.

“morning, sunshine,” Pup teases, looking at you on his side. “you know, it’s usually good manners to ask someone before using them as a cuddle toy.” It might be your imagination, but it almost looks like there’s a small orange-red flush on his face. He shifts slightly, and his sweater hood slips down to cover it.

You immediately feel warmth flood your cheeks and release your death grip on his jacket. Your hands are still shaking from the nightmare, and you can see an imprint of the fabric of his jacket in the flesh of your palms.

The room is barely light at all, early morning hours apparent with the dawn rays filtering through the curtains on the windows. It’s enough to see the room, at least.

“S-sorry.” You bury your head in the blanket, turning away and curling in on yourself. “Can’t control it.”

“bad dreams? about what’s going on, probably?”

You flinch. 

“right on the mark, then.” He softens his voice. “hey.” He touches your shoulder gently and turns you back towards him. “it’ll be alright. we aren’t going to let anything happen to you. i’ll go into hiding myself before i let them take you.”

“Why would you even do that? You don’t know me.”

Pup looks briefly to the side, then back at you. “i dunno about you humans, but we monsters… we get attached real easily. we’re literally made of love and compassion, hehe.” He smiles warmly at you, and for a moment, you almost feel cared for. “so don’t worry about it. i can tell that in your soul, you’re a good person.”

He extends a couple fingers slightly over your chest, hovering just a couple inches in front of it, as if indicating the general area as to which he was referring.

Wordlessly, soundlessly, you wrap your arms back around him in a silent action that said everything. You fall back asleep listening to your own quiet breathing, and the steady hum of magic you can hear emanating from under Pup’s sweater. 

You dream of people made of love. People made of compassion. People you just so happened to live with.

You smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	10. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You return home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“-AND THEN THEY PRACTICALLY TURNED YOUR ROOM UPSIDE DOWN AND I’M SO SORRY IF I WAS NOT ABLE TO GET IT EXACTLY BACK THE WAY IT USED TO BE, BUT I DID TRY VERY HARD, AND-” Papyrus wrings his gloves and frantically paces back and forth as he exposition dumps you on everything that occurred while you were hiding for your life.

“-Papyrus! It’s okay! I’m sure the room is fine.” You give him a warm smile. 

“WE TOLD THEM THAT THE ROOM WAS FOR OUR AUNT MARIGOLD. THAT’S A SKELETON NAME.” He stops pacing, gritting his teeth worriedly. “I HOPE THEY BOUGHT IT…”

“Listen to me,” you reply, stopping him from starting the pacing again with a single hand to his chest. “I’m going to be alright. They don’t even know I’m here. Everything is fine.”

Papyrus lifts you up into a hug. One of your arms hooks under his arm and around his back to meet the other hand, which rests by his neck. Curse your small stature for making him have to pick you up to hug you.

You’d long since grown accustomed to the warm cinnamon smell he exuded. It was nice, comforting, and ever so slightly backed by a hint of citrus. You hadn’t realized how much you’d missed Papyrus before now.

“THEY WERE HERE FOR A WHILE,” Papyrus informs you. “THOUGH THEY SAID THEY WERE JUST DOING A SEARCH. THEY HAD A SEARCH WARRANT.”

You lay your head down in the crook of his neck, on his scarf, closing your eyes in relaxation.

“You did really good,” you mumble. “How’d you explain Sans and Pup’s empty rooms?”

Papyrus shrugs, which causes your head to bounce slightly. You squeeze him a little tighter.

“I SAID THEY’D RUN OFF ON A GAY ESCAPADE TO THE BAHAMAS!” He exclaims in an overly enthusiastic voice, even for him.

You look up at him, quirking an eyebrow soundlessly. He huffs in disappointment. 

“FINE, NO, I DID NOT ACTUALLY DO THAT. I SAID THEY’D GONE CAMPING FOR THE WEEKEND. THOUGH, HONESTLY, THAT PROBABLY DIDN’T SOUND ANY LESS CONSPICUOUS,” Papyrus tuts.

You giggle a little, burying your face into his scarf to muffle the sound. 

“ALSO YOU TOTALLY LIED TO ME ABOUT YOUR NAME, BUT I FORGIVE YOU.” 

You take a breath to let out some kind of long-winded apology and explanation, but are interrupted by a new voice.

“oh my stars, you’re back.”

Papyrus turns, then makes a squeaking sound and sets you down gently. You look up to find the source of the voice, but are interrupted when something barrels into you. You topple over at the impact, the culprit falling with you. When you have your bearings, your vision focuses and you can see that the person who knocked you over was Red!

Red has his arms wrapped around you in a hug, but quickly jumps up when he realizes the situation he’s in. He offers a hand, which you take, helping pull yourself to a stand. When you’re steadied, he places both hands on your shoulders and fixes you with a worried scowl.

“i thought they were gonna fucking kill you,” Red stresses, visibly upset. He checks you over for injuries, frowning at the bruise on your knee from hitting the broom when Sans teleported you into the supply closet. “you shoulda seen it. well, actually, you definitely shouldn’ta, ‘cause they were going _crazy_ lookin for ya. we spent hours putting our rooms back together after they left. i don’t think papyrus left your room until you got here.”

Red frowns at Papyrus, who immediately flicks his gaze away and sweats nervously.

“did you even start cleaning _your_ room?”

“WHAT IS THAT? MY BROTHER CALLING ME? I’LL BE RIGHT THERE, BROTHER!”

“ ‘m right here, bro,” Sans sleepily pipes up from where he was hidden under a blanket on the couch, but Papyrus is already gone.

“He didn’t clean his room?” You ask in shock. “That’s… that can’t be right. Are you sure?”

“trust me, if you heard the conniption fit my brother threw when he walked in there to borrow a book, you’d be pretty damn sure, also.” Red smirks. “hey, maybe next time the government is gonna come knockin on our door, give us some warning, yeah?”

You snort and elbow him playfully. “Yeah, the next time they give me two weeks notice in the mail, I’ll- I’ll be sure to let you know first thing,” you joke, trying to hide your uneasiness at the discussion.

“we didn’t even know they were talkin about you, at first. well, except papyrus. if it weren’t for him, we probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up a good cover story.” Red touches his chin in thought. “so… is ‘faye’ just, like, a cover name, or what? ‘cause that’s certainly not what the feds were callin ya.”

You freeze in place, joints stuttering slightly at being caught. You’d probably be hearing that question a lot, wouldn’t you?

“I- I’m sorry I l-lied to you, it’s just, I don’t want to go by that name anymore and I-” you clench your fists into little balls, scrunching your eyes tightly closed. “-MyNameIsFayeNow,Okay?!”

“woah, hey, it’s fine, darlin. i’ve seen my fair share of name changes in my day. your new name is safe with me,” he promises.

“R-really?” You open your eyes, flicking your gaze towards his jacket, unable to meet his eyes. “No tricks?”

“no tricks.” He replies solemnly. An awkward silence fills the air, and you begin to feel uncomfortable leaning up against the wall with Red. He probably thought you were stupid.

“S-so!” You exclaim after what you judged to be far too long. “How about that- the ‘Aunt’ thing? Who thought of that?”

“surprisingly, it was actually black who came up with the whole ‘aunt marigold’ plan,” Red replies, looking relieved at the end of the heavy silence. “i half expected him to turn you in himself, but he was pretty damn devoted to keeping you a secret.” He shrugs.

Black did that? Huh.

“I thought he hated me.” 

“i don’t think he _hates_ you, per se,” Red speculates, leaning against a wall. “he just… he never really trusted humans in the first place, ya know?”

You sigh. “I guess.” You let your forehead tap against the wall next to Red. “I just wish it was easier.”

“pff, yeah, like anything is easy around here,” Red rolls his eyes. “why’d they want you anyways? what’d you do?”

So even after all that, Black still hadn’t told them? He must really value your privacy, for some reason. You certainly didn’t feel like you’d earned it.

“I… it’s hard to talk about. It’ll be easier if I show you.” Your eyes dart around the open living room. “Somewhere more private.”

Red wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and you playfully punch his arm. 

“aah, noooo, you’ve shot me,” he gasps dramatically, grasping his arm. “tell my brother i love him.” He makes grasping motions towards the ceiling in an overdramatized playact of a tragic demise, but ultimately ends up leaning on you, snickering.

“Yeah, yeah, doofus. Now take me to your bedroom so I can actually tell you something for once,” you chuckle nervously. You wiggle a couple fingers at him. “Mysterious past, remember?”

“ah, yes,” Red muses, a solemn expression tracing his face. “oh so mysterious. oh so... past?” You see a small grin twitching at the corner of his mouth, though he fights to keep the serious facade up.

“Oh so remember?”

Red snorts, bobbing his head up and down as a choked laugh rumbles out from his chest. “yeah, that,” he squeaks, as the laughter continues. He grabs your hand, flashing you a quick smile. “i assume the doggie and mister vanilla over there already showed you the wonderful power of shortcuts?”

Okay, ‘Doggie’ you understood, but ‘Mister Vanilla’? 

“Vanilla?” You shake your head to clear your thoughts, then look back at Red. “Uhm, yeah, of course. You were there when Pup teleported me out of here.”

The smile widens into a full sharp-toothed grin, and his grip on your hand tightens marginally. “great!” He chirps. “to my room we go then!”

“Why don’t we just w-”

 

“-alk?” You’re already in his room, wobbling with the unsteadiness of the shortcut that you hadn’t been prepared for. You stumble slightly, but his grip on your hand steadies you.

“you alright?” He asks, concerned look breaking through his lazy exterior. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you reassure him. 

“so why didn’t you want to be in the living room? it’s not like you’re setting off a stardamned fireworks display,” he quips.

“I have… chosen to tell you about this, but some of the others don’t know yet, and I’m not sure I want them to,” you explain hesitantly.

“so i’m not the firs’ to find out? damn. ah, well. at least i’m not the last,” he reasoned, shooting you a wink. 

You try to look nonchalant, even though your heart is going a million miles an hour. You’d done this before, showing someone your powers. You’d be fine.

“So this is kind of out of nowhere, but try not to… freak out, okay?” You ask him hesitantly.

Red tilts his head to the side, confused, but hums his approval anyway. “go on ahead, i guess?”

You close your eyes, deeply sighing to focus your thoughts and energies. You hadn’t used your power since you’d shown Pup that you were a mage, at least you didn’t _think_ you had. 

You turn your hand, palm up towards the ceiling, and feel the warmth of your magic coalesce in your chest. Like water, you allow it to flow down and through your arm, and pool invisibly in your hand. You knew you wouldn’t see anything if you were looking at your hand, but it felt like if you spread your fingers, all of the water that wasn’t water would seep through your fingers and fall to the ground.

With a spark of intent, a flash of will, the puddle of magic transforms instead into a flash of visible sparks, fizzling out and dying just before they reach the ceiling. That was about the best of your control. You think back to the child mage in the department store, with the green shield of magic. You wish you had your old control back. Maybe with some training, you could?

“woah…” Red whispers, eyes and voice full of awe. “so _that’s_ why you’re here.” His eye lights flick from your hand back up to meet your eyes. “so why does the government want you for that?” 

You close your first, absorbing any last remnants of your magic left in your palm, and clear your throat. “It’s… a long story. Not one I really want to-to tell right now.” You give him a wavering grin, unsure if he was going to take that for an answer or not.

“hey, that’s fine,” he grins. “mystery.” He winks with a small chuckle. “who else knows about…” he pulls a hand out of his sweater pocket to gesture at you in general, “all of this?”

“Papyrus… Pup.” You hesitate before continuing. “...Black?” 

Red gapes at you. “ya telling me that undersized brat got to know about your cool secret magic stuff before i did?!” He splutters, shaking his head in disapproval. “uncool.”

“I’m sorry again about all the trouble with the government, and all,” you wince, reaching down to spin your ring around your finger. “They only came here because they were looking for me.”

“hey, no lasting harm done, besides a few trashed rooms. you’re fine, sweetheart,” Red assures you, shooting you a toothy grin. 

Suddenly, you hear a shout from outside the room.

“WELL,YOU MUST BE HEARING THINGS, THEN, SINCE I DID NOT HEAR THE HUMAN REENTER THE HOUSE, ASHTRAY!” Sounds like Fell. Who was ‘ashtray’? Red’s head jerks towards the noise as you pad towards his door and crack it open, sticking your head out into the hallway. Looks like Fell and Orange are arguing.

“well, _sorry_ ,” Orange drawls sarcastically, cigarette switching from one side of his mouth to the other. You didn’t even know he smoked. He and Pup should probably quit, but you weren’t going to bug them about it. “it’s not _my_ fault you’re going deaf,” he snarks, brows furrowed.

“I THINK I WOULD NOTICE IF THE HUMAN HAD RETURNED. UNLIKE _YOU_ , I ACTUALLY MAINTAIN SOME FORM OF VIGILANCE,” Fell huffs, arms crossed.

“ _vigilance_?” Orange laughs. “it’s not like she’s a bloodthirsty killer, edgelord. i think i’ll be just fine with my _normal_ hearing, thank you very mu-”

“Orange is right,” you remark from Red’s doorway. You raise an eyebrow at their simultaneous shocked expressions, but immediately dissolve into laughter when Fell starts pouting. 

Orange’s expression quickly changes from one of surprise to one of delight, a smile breaking out across his face. “i knew i was right!”

You giggle, and Fell speaks up in your stead. “I WAS NOT INCORRECT! I WAS SIMPLY… TESTING YOU! TO SEE IF YOU WOULD STICK BY YOUR CONVICTIONS EVEN WHEN QUESTIONED BY SOMEONE AS GREAT AND TERRIBLE AS ME! NYAH HAH HAH HAH!” He cackles.

“Of course you did,” you nod to Fell, ignoring the piercing stare you can feel Red giving you from behind for patronizing his brother.

“blue and i we’re talking while we waited for you to get back,” Orange says, passing his cigarette from his mouth to his hand, “and we were wondering if you’d like to go out for a day on the town? just to…i dunno, chillax, not think about whatever freaky stuff is going on with you and the government for a while?”

You let out a small gasp, and Fell huffs in frustration. “ABSOLUTELY NOT! YOU MUST STAY HERE WITH ME AND _MY_ BROTHER INSTEAD!”

A puff of amusement escapes you. “And what will you guys be doing?”

Fell’s eyes flick to the side nervously. He obviously hadn’t thought about that. “UM- WELL, YOU SEE, I WAS THINKING MAYBE-”

“-dude, i invited faye first. stay in your lane.” Orange rolls his eyes, and Fell emits a high pitched screech so loud that you hear something glass break in the distance, and the grumbling of Sans downstairs, having been awoken from his couch nap. He storms past Orange, and violently shoves you aside from the doorway of Red’s room, stomping inside and slamming the door behind him.

“I… I guess I’ll be going with you and Blue then?” You question, though it was rhetorical. Orange’s grin brightens some, and he closes his eyes with the smile. 

“yup! c’mon, my bro is waiting.” And with that, Orange leads you out of the hallway. You glance at Red’s door behind him, but follow. You had a feeling this was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	11. See? Food.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You, Blue, and Orange go to a restaurant! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“You drive a _motorcycle_?!” 

Blue props an elbow up on his bike, grinning like you’d just said something hilarious. “OF COURSE I DO! IT’S BY FAR THE COOLEST FORM OF TRANSPORT!” He reaches up and tugs on the side of his leather jacket, which you hadn’t even known he had before today— it did look pretty cool.

You laugh, covering your mouth with a hand to stifle it. “Yeah, you’re right!” You take a look around the garage you’re in. If you hadn’t known that these guys were loaded before, this room alone would certainly have tipped you off. 

Blue’s fittingly blue bike is standing next to another motorcycle, this one black. There’s an electric green motorized scooter in the far corner, a black muscle car and a red sports car parked next to each other, and an orange Jeep parked next to you. You didn’t even know it was possible to own this many vehicles in one place.

“WE CAN USE THIS TO GET TO THE CITY! ORANGE AND I MADE SOME PLANS TO HANG OUT, SINCE YOU HAVEN’T REALLY BEEN OUT OF THE HOUSE MUCH!”

“How… public are we talking?” You ask nervously, fidgeting with the band on your finger. 

“ORANGE IS REALLY GOOD WITH TECH-Y STUFF! I’M NOT SURE WHAT EXACTLY HE DID, BUT YOU WON’T HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH CAMERAS, I PROMISE!” He exclaims, pressing a helmet onto his skull. “HERE! SAFETY FIRST!” He shouts excitedly, shoving a light blue helmet into your arms. You grab it on instinct, unable to react properly to the quick action. You fumble with it slightly, turning it to the upright position.

“I’ve never ridden one of these before,” you mumble, eyes tracing the outline of the blue motorcycle. “Is it safe?” You take your earphones out of your ears, wrapping them around your phone to put in your pocket.

Blue barks a laugh. “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Look unfazed at your now horrified expression, he continues exuberantly yelling, “NOW PUT ON THAT HELMET! WE’RE GOING TO THE CITY!”

You hesitantly slip it onto your head, and take a couple seconds to calm your breathing as Blue gets the bike ready to move. You were afraid, but it was a good, constructive fear. The kind you learn from. Not the kind you needed to curl up into a ball to avoid. 

On his cue, you climb up onto the bike behind Blue, unsure of where to put your hands. Your moments of indecision are put to a halt when he starts forward and your arms instinctively latch around his middle in a bid for your safety.

“bLUE!” You scream as the motorcycle quickly accelerates. You tighten your arms as much as you can around him as you feel the force pushing back against your body. You aren’t sure, but you think you hear the faint sound of his snickering over the loud noises. 

When you finally manage to loosen the death grip on his jacket, and pull your head out of the material, you can fully appreciate what it’s like to ride the bike. It’s still terrifying, not to get you wrong, but it has a freeing feeling to it. You haven’t felt this way in ages. You’re still clinging to him with all the strength your arms can muster, but you start to look around, frantically drinking in your surroundings as they whip past you, like you’d starve if you missed a single bit of it.

By the time you arrive at what appears to be a restaurant, you’re almost disappointed to be done with the ride. Blue hops off the bike, carefully taking off his helmet, then extending a hand to help you down. Your legs are shaky when they touch the ground, and wobble so violently that your knees nearly buckle almost immediately, but Blue steadies you until you have your bearings.

When you have your arms back to yourself, you take off the helmet Blue gave you and hand it back, reaching up to fix your hair, then put your earphones back in. Your hair was a rats nest now, something that would have made you scowl if you hadn’t just had what was both the most terrifying and exhilarating time of your life.

“FUN?” Blue asks you, wild grin on his face. You have a steadying hand on his shoulder, and release a breathy laugh.

“Scary. Terrifying.” A huge smile splits your face. “But also really, really fun,” you assure him. You squeal slightly and lean forward to hug him tightly for a second or two, pulling back to see a slight blue flush on his face that he immediately shakes away with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Thank you,” you tell him sincerely.

“Y-YOU’RE VERY WELCOME, FAYE!” 

“what’s goin on over here?” You hear someone exclaim in a joking tone. You turn to see Orange, and your smile widens even further.

“BlueTookMeOutOnHisMotorcycleAndItWasReallyCoolAndAlsoTerrifyingButILovedItAnd-”

“-hey! breathe!” Orange laughs good naturedly. You take a deep breath obediently, letting it out slowly. 

“A-anyways,” you mumble abashedly, “I had a good time.”

“that’s great!” Orange exclaims, sticking his hands into his pockets. You notice a toothpick in his mouth in place of the cigarette you saw earlier. Seemed like a habit. “it’s absolutely packed in there. prob’ly why you guys had to park so far away from the restaurant.”

“READY TO GO IN?” Blue asks, clapping his hands together exuberantly. He bounces up and down slightly in place, as if he can’t control his energy.

 

Before you know it, you’re seated in a booth across from Blue, Orange sitting next to you. The restaurant is more interesting than you’d previously thought it would be! Like Orange said, the restaurant was very crowded, so you keep an earbud in to combat the noise. The walls are glass tanks of water, self contained aquariums allowing diners to view the fish as they eat. Even the walls of the booth are part of the tank, as evidenced by the small yellow fish hanging out by your left sleeve.

You reach out and touch the glass with your fingertips, tracing the outline of the fish with your fingers. It darts away to another booth, and you turn away, dejected, to see Orange looking at you with a goofy grin. You take one of your earbuds out of your ears, tucking it into the collar of your shirt to prepare for conversation.

“having fun over there?” He teases. 

“BROTHER, DO NOT MAKE FUN OF HER,” Blue chastises, peeking over his menu. “WE BROUGHT HER HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME.”

“It’s fine,” you chirp, letting your eyes drift back to the fish tank. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen an aquarium.” Your smile falters slightly.

“something wrong?”

“Nothing,” you immediately respond. When you catch Orange’s incredulous look, you know that isn’t going to fly with him. You sigh. “Are you… are you _sure_ it’s safe for me to be out right now?”

A second or two passes before a slow smile grows over Orange’s face and he withdraws a small device from his hoodie pocket.

“you see this?” He asks. You stare dumbly at it for a moment before nodding slowly, and he clicks a button on it, before returning it to his pocket. “that just wiped all camera footage within a two-thousand foot radius. did my research before bringing you here, cameras aren’t secure enough to withstand my little device here.” His smile becomes more of a smirk. “you’ll be fine. besides, if anyone causes you any trouble, i have a shortcut we can take,” he says with a wink.

Your eyes widen with realization and you nod in understanding. Looking for a change in subject, you pick up the menu in front of you. 

“So… is this a seafood place?”

“WHAT?! NO! WHY WOULD AN AQUARIUM THEMED RESTAURANT SERVE FISH?!” Blue asks with a horrified tone, dropping his menu to the table with a thwack. “THAT’S LIKE… MURDERING THEIR FAMILY RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM.” You flush with embarrassment. 

“I mean, normally when, when restaurants have fish and stuff, it’s because- because they serve fish,” you stutter, hunching your shoulders behind your menu. You click the volume on your music in the earphone in your ear up a little to compensate for your heightened anxiety.

“HUH. REALLY?” He picks his menu back up and starts scanning it again. “WEIRD. KIND OF CREEPY.”

“nah,” Orange chimes in from behind his own menu. He tilts it to the side slightly, bemused expression on his face. “humans do that kind of stuff all the time. it’s a thematic sort of thing, i think.” He tuts disapprovingly. “not this one, though. monster owned.”

Your eyes go wide with wonder. “I’ve never been to a monster owned place before.”

“you have now.”

 

———

 

“i can _not_ believe the fries made you glow,” Orange guffaws as you walk out of the building with a full stomach, smile stretching your face. “i didn’t know magical food had that effect on humans.”

You extend your arm and admire the golden shimmer as you rotate your arm and the light catches it. “How long will this last? It’s pretty neat.”

“WE SHOULD GET A PICTURE!” Blue exclaims, jumping in front of you.

You honestly weren’t the biggest fan of pictures. Or videos, especially without your permission. But you supposed that just this once, you’d allow it. You nod in affirmation, and Blue digs his cell phone out of his back pocket. You take your other earbuds out of your ear, and crowd into the frame with the two skeletons.

“SAY ‘CREEPY AQUARIUM SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS’!” Blue exclaims, phalange hovering over the shutter button. You weren’t sure how the phone even sensed his input, but you weren’t going to question it.

“creepy aquarium seafood restaurants!”  
“Creepy...aquarium seafood restaurants?”

Blue takes the photo, then pulls his phone to the side, inspecting it. When he hands it to you to see, it has been embroidered with sparkly stickers of fish and the word ‘yum’. 

You cringe at the way you look in the photo, but seeing as you never like the way you look in pictures, you tell him it’s fine, and hand the phone back to him. You talk about your experience with the food as you begin to walk back to Blue’s bike.

Halfway through the long trek back to the motorcycle, Orange stops short in his tracks, so you jerk to a stop. 

“got a text from sans.” He squints at his phone. “huh. apparently papyrus is throwin a huge fit. says we shouldn’t’a taken you out.” He slips his phone back into his pocket and sighs, running a hand down his face. “i was gonna walk you guys back to the bike before leavin, but i’ll go ahead of you guys and take care of this so you don’t have to deal with it. see you guys later,” Orange says, then with the snap that you don’t hear, but feel, he’s gone.

You and Blue glance at each other for a few moments before you keep walking. It’s a dark street, night having fallen while you ate in the restaurant. 

 

“Ha. So your guard dog finally left ya, huh?”

You freeze in your tracks at the strange voice, hairs on your arms standing on end. Blue stops next to you, glancing at you reassuringly. You relax, if only slightly. You had seen how competent of a fighter Blue was in person, after all. Well, more like _heard_. It was enough.

“I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER,” Blue exclaims in a friendly voice, not turning to face the perpetrator.

“And who’s gonna stop me?” Okay, that was definitely closer now. “Some tiny monster runt and human pet? Nah.” A lump of magic forms in your chest, pressing almost painfully in its attempt to be released. It felt different this time. Every other time this had happened, it was only you in danger, but this time…

“ACTUALLY, YES, IT _IS_ THE TINY MONSTER RUNT THAT WILL- FAYE?”

“ **Don’t touch him.** ” You’re already turned towards the man, fingers twitching with the energy built up at the tips of them, overloading your nerves with the sheer amount of it. Literal sparks of magic fly from finger to finger, and you don’t know if you can hold it in for much longer.

 

You don’t particularly want to.

You see a hint of fear in the man’s eyes before your magic explodes, cascading out of your body in waves of energy. There’s a loud crack as the man topples backwards and hits his head on the concrete behind him. There was… blood. So much blood. All at once, the intense surge of magic is gone, and exhaustion replaces it, leaving you to crumple up into a pile on the ground.

The last thing you see before bad dreams overtake your mind is Blue’s face peering over you, reaching out to pick you up. Then, nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	12. Feeling Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re being avoided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting this early due to the two-hour maintenance tomorrow! Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

Blue wasn’t talking to you.

It wasn’t like he was being outwardly rude, or anything. He just seemed to go out of his way to avoid you. If you entered a room that he was in, he’d find some convenient excuse to leave, or would already be halfway out the door. You weren’t stupid, you knew what you’d done wrong…

And you understood why he reacted the way he did.

Honestly, it was more of a surprise that no one else yet had done the same thing. You were a freak, and you deserved this. You deserved more than this.

It still hurt.

“HEY, IT’LL BE OKAY,” Papyrus reassures you, sitting in your bed next to you as you curl up in the blankets and dissociate. “HE’LL UNDERSTAND THAT YOU AREN'T BAD, REAL SOON I BET, AND THEN HE WILL TALK TO YOU AND BE YOUR FRIEND AGAIN!”

You curl into yourself a little more, tipping yourself over slightly to lean on Papyrus. “I… I h-hope so.”

“I KNOW SO!”

There’s a beat of silence before you respond again, voice stony and cold. 

“How long?”

“WHAT?”

“How long until he- until he understands?”

Papyrus fidgets uncomfortably, pinching the fabric of his gloves as he thinks. “I… CANNOT ANSWER THAT FOR YOU.”

Your next words catch in your throat, instead bubbling up as a sob. “I-I was just- just trying t-to-to protect h-h-h-” the last word won’t come out, and your panic increases at your sudden loss of control. 

“It is alright, Faye,” Papyrus whispers soothingly, running a hand over your hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong. The man is alright. Blue is just being… difficult.”

A hysterical laugh builds in your chest, mixing with another sob before finally escaping you. “D-difficult?” You giggle like that was the most hilarious thing you’d heard in a while. “He has- he has every right to be.”

“YOU STOP THAT THERE.” Papyrus’s voice returns to its previous loud state, chastising you for your self deprecation. “YOU DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG. YOU MERELY DEFENDED YOURSELF. BLUE AND HIS BROTHER… WHERE THEY COME FROM, MAGES AREN’T EXACTLY THE BEST PEOPLE. HE IS FRIGHTENED.”

You look at Papyrus, confused. “I thought you all came from- from the same place? Underground, right?”

What could possibly be so different between the areas the four sets of brothers grew up in that mages were some kind of inherently evil beings to Blue and Orange?

Papyrus looks to the side with an expression of discomfort. “Y-YES, WE WERE ALL UNDERGROUND.” He looks back at you suddenly, and changes the subject. “EITHER WAY, PUP AND BLACK CAME FROM A SIMILAR BACKGROUND. I FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT BLACK ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT YOUR…MAGE-NESS, BUT IT MAY BE A BAD IDEA TO TELL PUP, AT THE MOMENT.”

“About that…”

“YOU DIDN'T.”

“I did?” You wince. “Sorry.”

Papyrus places a hand over his face and sighs dramatically. “WHO ELSE KNOWS?”

“Your brother… Red. Blue now, I guess. I think that’s all. I don’t know if Blue- if Blue told his brother or not.”

Papyrus places his hands together in a steepled position and inhales slowly, like he’s trying to prepare himself. 

“YOU TOLD PRACTICALLY EVERYONE?! I THOUGHT WE WERE KEEPING THIS, AS YOU HUMANS SAY, ‘UNDER WRAPS’?”

“Well, Pup told Sans! And I didn’t tell Blue, he just-found out…” you glance to the side. You felt so _guilty_. 

Papyrus sighs gently, returning his hand to your hair to scratch your scalp soothingly. “IT’LL BE ALRIGHT IF THEY KNOW. THEY AREN’T GOING TO KICK YOU OUT, OR ANYTHING. IT WILL JUST BE AN ADJUSTMENT PERIOD.”

You relax into the hair petting, letting your breathing even out. “Yeah… I-I guess.”

Papyrus smiles warmly. “THAT’S THE SPIRIT!”

 

———

 

“so. you’re a mage. is it true?”

Your pencil skids on your sketchbook paper, breath catching in your throat. You turn to Orange, who’d been laying next to you on the couch for the past hour or so without comment.

Until now.

“W-what did you say?”

“you heard me.” Orange’s voice normally carries some sort of jovial, joking tone in it. Normally. You can’t detect a trace of it now.

You swallow heavily, placing your pencil on the end table next to you with your sketchbook, which you gently close.

“I…” Your eyes instinctively begin to burn with tears. You knew you couldn’t lie to him. Any time you’d ever tried always ended in failure. “I… yes.”

Orange swings his legs off of the couch, letting them drop on the ground unceremoniously, then pulls himself to a standing position.

He closes his eyes, taking a breath, then grunts in acknowledgement. “good. you didn’t lie.” Then, with a quick movement that makes you flinch in preparation for some kind of attack, he extends his hand. 

You stare at him like he’s just offered you some alien object, something you could never understand. 

“Why?”

“life’s too short to hold a grudge against someone who never did anything wrong.” He responds easily. “by what he told me, you protected my brother. not that he needs protection,” he laughs, “but it’s the thought that counts. thank you.”

You hesitate, but take his hand. “It was no- no big deal, really. I wasn’t really… in control of myself, anyways.”

Orange quirks a brow up in thought, pulling you to a stand, then taking his hand back. “really? i thought that shit was natural for you guys. odd.” He hums for a couple seconds, before adding, “mage stuff explains why the government was after you, though.”

You cringe, bringing your hand up to spin your ring around your finger. “Pretty much.”

“i suppose my bro didn’t react too well to all of this? sorry for him.”

“He’s been… ignoring me. It’s alright. I- I don’t mind.”

Orange frowns. “that doesn’t sound like him at all, even if he isn’t a huge fan of mages. i’ll talk to him.”

“Wait- really?” You hadn’t expected that of him. From what Papyrus had told you, there was something about the mages where Orange and Blue came from that made them wary of you, so you didn’t understand why he would stick his neck out for you like that.

Orange scratches at the back of his head distractedly. “yeah. you don’t deserve this. blue knows that stuff is different here, he shouldn’t be treating you like a freak.”

You huff, and cross your arms in annoyance. “I still don’t understand what you guys mean when you say things like that. You make it sound like you come from a different world, or something.”

Orange stays silent for a minute or so, staring at you blankly. 

“anyway, i’ll go talk to blue.”

You make a small sound of interruption, he hadn’t answered what you’d said at all, but he leaves the room before you can get him talking again. 

He’s back ten minutes later, dragging Blue in by his blue bandana. You look up from your sketchbook, which you had opened again when Orange left, at the small skeleton struggling against his younger brother’s hold.

“PA- ORANGE LET ME GO!”

“not until you apologize to faye. she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this, and you know it.”

“I’M NOT EVEN _DOING_ ANYTHING TO HER!” Blue yells as Orange drops his bandana, allowing Blue’s full weight to drop onto the ground. 

“you’re ignoring her. she doesn’t need this right now, you told me she protected you, right?”

“I DIDN'T _NEED_ HER TO-”

“-but she did it, right?” Orange interrupts him. Blue nods reluctantly. “then drop it. she’s not like them. you need to chill the hell out.”

“SHE’S OUT OF CONTROL, SHE’S-”

“-out of control, huh? well, then. why doesn’t someone train her?”

Blue jumps back slightly, hand flying up to his mouth. “TRAIN HER? ARE YOU _INSANE_?!”

Orange shrugs. “i don’t see why not.”

“SHE CAN’T CONTROL IT NOW, AND YOU WANT TO MAKE HER _MORE_ OF A THREAT?!”

You meekly raise your hand and clear your throat, interrupting the squabbling siblings. “You r-really don’t… really don’t have to be around me if you don’t want to be.” You drop your head, letting it hang sadly. “It’s alright. I’ll just. I’ll just leave.”

Blue, having seemingly forgotten that you were even there, flinches back slightly, guilty look in his eyes. “N-NO, THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT,” he frantically explains, tapping two fingertips together. “I JUST-”

“You just want me gone.” You lift your head back up to meet his eyes, and don’t miss the small shiver that ripples its way up his body. “It’s- it’s okay. I can’t really move out of the house, but I can stay away from you.” You take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “If you want.”

“THAT’S… That’s…” Blue’s voice slowly goes quiet. “I’m sorry.”

You tilt your head to the side in confusion. “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong. You have- you have every right to want me to leave you alone.”

Blue shakes his head frantically. “NO, NO, THAT'S NOT RIGHT, IS IT?” He sighs, looking to his brother. “I’M BEING STUPID. JUST… DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE.”

And with that, he stomps right out of the room.

Well, he didn’t have to be so rude about it.

“that’s… a little better, at least?” Orange asks. When you don’t respond, he speaks up again. “he’s probably venting his frustrations on video games. you’d better go stop him before he breaks a controller,” He offers. You make a small sound of surprise.

“You’re sending _me_ in to calm him down?” You tap your fingers absentmindedly on your sketchbook cover. “But I’m the reason he’s upset in the first place.”

“eh, only half true. and he isn’t black, or fell. he can handle it, i promise.”

You weren’t completely sure that you wouldn’t be yelled out of the room as soon as you walked in, but you nod to him and stand up to walk to the game room.

 

———

 

“DID MY BROTHER SEND YOU HERE?” Blue asks, scowling as he squints at his computer and his fingers tap the keyboard rhythmically.

“...Yes.”

Blue stays quiet for so long that you think he’s cycled back to ignoring you, before he finally sighs defeatedly and gestures at the seat next to him. You blink at the chair owlishly for a couple seconds before quickly sitting down, not wanting to waste this chance you’ve been given. You sit silently with him as he guns down various NPCs in the game he’s playing. Dang, he was good at this.

The next time Blue speaks it’s completely out of nowhere, and startles you. 

“I KNOW YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON,” Blue admits, shifting uncomfortably. “IT’S JUST HARD TO BE AROUND YOU KNOWING YOU ARE A… MAGE. I DON’T KNOW HOW MY BROTHER CAN STAND IT.” 

“I’m sorry.”

Blue flinches at your apology, the distraction proving enough to cause his death when an enemy in his game manages to hit him with a stray bullet. The ‘game over’ screen appears, which Blue stares blankly at while some kind of droning music plays.

When the screen fades to black, Blue shakily takes off his headphones, places them on the table in front of him, and turns to you.

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO APOLOGIZE, YOU KNOW.” Blue cringes, looking down at his hands. “I AM SORRY FOR AVOIDING YOU.”

You shake your head. “No. It’s alright… I shouldn’t have- It’s okay for you to- Your reaction is pretty much… what I’ve been expecting, from everybody.”

Something in Blue’s expression cracks, breaks slightly. And suddenly his arms are wrapped around you, hugging you tightly. When you process exactly what’s happening, you hug him back. He smelled like pine trees.

“I’M SORRY FOR FULFILLING YOUR EXPECTATIONS,” Blue apologizes once again, pulling away from the hug. You think you catch him wiping at his eye, but you aren’t sure. “THAT’S… NOT A VERY NICE STANDARD FOR ME TO MEET, AND I’M SOMEONE WHO PRIDES MYSELF ON MEETING EVERYONE’S STANDARDS!” He jokes, cracking a smile.

You laugh with him, bringing your hand up to cover your mouth. “You are forgiven,” you respond easily, though you still didn’t quite think there was anything to forgive.

“awwww, happy ending,” coos Orange from the corner of the room. Both Blue and you startle, and Blue stands up with two fists on his hips, brows drawn.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?!” He demands of his brother, unable to truly keep a scolding scowl on his face.

Orange shrugs, lifting a bottle of… honey????!? To his mouth????? And drINKING IT?????

“First Sans with ketchup, then Pup with honey mustard, and now you too?!” You exclaim, fingers digging into your hair. “When will this madness end?!”

Orange snorts, wiping a trail of honey from his mouth before winking at his brother. “just wait until she sees what red drinks.” Then he teleports out of the room.

You immediately turn on Blue. “What does Red drink?!”

Blue pulls his bandana up to cover his face. “OH. UM. BLUE ISN’T HERE RIGHT NOW, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE???”

You roll your eyes and storm out of the room, determined to hunt down Red. What was it with these skeletons and drinking condiments?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	13. Hello Darkness My Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally talk to Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s early because fuck you that’s why. Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

Sometimes things in your life were weird. Like when Orange helped you win his brother over, or when you found out that Red drinks at least two bottles of mustard a day and gagged so hard that you nearly threw up. Things were just like that.

Which is why you needed to finally talk to Black.

You’d put it off for long enough, honestly. If you hadn’t heard about what he’d done when the government came calling for you, you’d have put it off for even longer. But that wouldn’t be fair to him.

 

You’d knocked on Black’s door, expecting to be turned away, but surprisingly, he let you in. Even if he was grumbling under his breath, it was a welcome change from the literal lack of conversation between you two since basically the day you moved into the house. His room is just as dark and villainous-feeling as before, the candles still lit along his dresser.

“So. ‘Aunt Marigold’.” You figured you’d just get straight to the point. Black didn’t seem like the type to beat around the bush.

“YOU DON’T TALK TO ME SINCE THE DAY YOU ARRIVE AND THAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU SAY TO ME?” Black responds incredulously. You shrug, feeling uncharacteristically confident. 

“Red told me you came up with the plan to not get me busted by the feds,” you respond coolly, arms crossed over the small sketchbook you’d brought into the room with you.

“YES, WHAT IS IT TO YOU? IT DOES ME NO GOOD FOR YOU TO BE TAKEN AWAY.”

“It doesn’t do you any good for me to stay, either.”

That makes Black stop and think. “I…” his eye lights flick from side to side in his frantic efforts to come up with an explanation. “I SIMPLY WANTED TO SAVE FACE! IF I WAS THE ONLY PERSON TO NOT CARE, THE OTHERS WOULD THINK POORLY OF ME! MWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!”

“No.” 

“HAH HAH- NO?” Black’s cackling stops in its tracks, his face looking utterly befuddled. It was probably rare that anyone ever interrupted him, or maybe he just didn’t expect you to.

“No,” you respond simply. “They already thought you didn’t care. No one would have thought any differently of you if you had…” your confidence begins to waver. You knew it was too good to last. “If you had just been- been dormant.”

Black stares at you, eye sockets, and the rest of his expression, going dark. You’re almost afraid that he’s going to hit you, but then he finally hisses a command at you that sends a strong chill down your spine.

“GET. OUT.”

You flinch, foot stepping instinctively backwards in an immediate attempt to follow his order, when you stop yourself. Something about this wasn’t right. Black didn’t look like he normally did, all himedere, tsundere, and hauty. No. He almost looked like he was beating himself up over something. Even when he yelled at you, you could that tell his heart wasn’t in it.

“I… No.” You plant your feet back into their previous positions, fist that isn’t occupied holding your sketchbook clenched. You weren’t going to back down from this one.

“NO?! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME, YOU INSUFFERABLE, DISGUSTI-”

“-Black,” You practically beg. “Please, stop.”

His face freezes in his scowl, sharp teeth bared. “WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT FROM ME, HUMAN?! YOU CAME IN HERE, PROBABLY WANTING ME TO BE ALL SOFT AND SWEET AND NICE, JUST LIKE MY MUTT OF A BROTHER BECAME?” He cringes heavily. “NO.” Turning around to plop onto his bed, and pulling up some app on his phone, he waves you off like the first, and only other, time you’d been in his room. “NOW GO AWAY. LEAVE ME ALONE.”

You notice his defeated expression as the arcade blips and beeps play from his phone. You frown, clutching at your sketchbook.

“I’m… not leaving, but,” you offer, eyes flicking from side to side, “...and, this might be kinda stupid, but I thought you’d like it? As like… a peace treaty?”

Black whips his head up from his phone and you hear the defeated bloops of his in-game death as you open your sketchbook and flip through the pages. He makes sounds of growing impatience until you finally find the right page, throwing the book towards him in your haste. He’d probably think it was stupid, or childish, or whatever. But you’d put a lot of effort into it, and you’d be damned if he wasn’t going to see it.

Black rolls his eyes and takes the book, and you brace yourself for a sharp remark about how awful the drawing is.

“IS THIS… OF ME?”

You nod your head quickly, still preparing for a rude comment about the structure of the drawing, eyes shut. Instead, you hear the sound of ripping paper.

“Wh- Hey!!” Your eyes fly open, and you lunge forward, grabbing your sketchbook back. “What did you do?!”

You look back up at the guilty skeleton to see him gripping the full piece of paper, and sigh in relief. He didn’t rip it up like you thought he had.

“MY MAGNIFICENT VISAGE IS COMPLETELY WASTED IN THAT BOOK, AMONG YOUR DRAWINGS OF THE SEVEN DEGENERATES THAT I HAPPEN TO LIVE WITH,” He sneers. Something about that sneer has the same feeling of being off, however. Being different. It doesn’t feel real, like he’s just putting up a mask because he thinks he has to. “I’LL JUST KEEP IT HERE WITH ME.” 

You can’t stop the small smile that makes its way onto your face at that. You put your hands behind your back, rocking on your feet.

“Alright, then.”

Black frowns, clearly anticipating more resistance. “YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET IT BACK. IT IS MINE FOREVER NOW,” He warns.

You make a face of mock surprise. “Why, Black, I had no idea just how sentimental you were,” you tease. You laugh, “Really, it’s fine. I just wish you would have warned me that you were gonna rip it out, or I would have gotten you scissors.”

Black blinks at you curiously. “WHY ARE YOU TREATING ME LIKE ALL OF THE OTHERS? I HAVE BARELY SPOKEN A WORD TO YOU SINCE YOU ARRIVED THAT WAS NOT CRUEL.”

You hadn’t expected that question. 

“Because…” You fiddle with your ring, trying to compose your thoughts in the most meaningful way you can. “Because- because why not? I mean, I know you were kind of awful to me, and all, and I guess I kind of deserved it anyways for intruding on your home? But. I mean. I don’t want it to be that way forever. I’m tired of tiptoeing around you, you are one of my housemates, or just- just pretending you don’t exist?” 

Well, your nicely composed thoughts had been thrown _right_ out the window, and consequently, you wanted to be also. You think it was understandable, at least.

Black hums in thought, tapping his chin. “BUT WHY NOW?”

You actually hadn’t considered that one. You had just accepted the fact that he and you would not get along. So what had changed your mind?

“Umm… well, I think it might have something to do with Blue? Or well, I guess you weren’t really around to know what was going on with that, but he was avoiding me after he found out about the… the _magic_ stuff. I patched things up with him, and I guess I wanted to do the same with you,” you shrug. 

“BLUE WAS AVOIDING YOU? WELL, WELL, WELL, WHO CAN’T LET GO OF THE PAST NOW?” Black muses to himself, clicking a button on the side of his phone to make the screen go dark, and stop the constant arcade noises that come from the speakers.

“What do you mean?” You lean against the wall, letting your head rest on its surface. You stare up at the ceiling, noticing the stick on glow-in-the-dark stars and planets he had on the plaster surface. You honestly wouldn’t have expected that of him.

“YOU MEAN THEY HAVEN’T TOLD YOU?” Black asks, head perking up. “YOU TELL THEM SECRETS ABOUT YOURSELF, YET THEY CAN’T BRING THEMSELVES TO SHARE EVEN THIS?” Black cackles.

“I’m sure they’d tell me if it was important…” you mumble, looking down towards the ground.

“THIS IS MOST CERTAINLY IMPORTANT.” Black pauses a second, before a small smirk grows on his face. “THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW, DO THEY? TOO BAD FOR THEM THAT PAPYRUS WOULDN’T LET ME COOK LAST NIGHT AND MADE HIS OWN SORRY EXCUSE FOR SPAGHETTI, INSTEAD, THEN.”

“What? You’re actually going to tell me?” You lift yourself up from the wall, disbelief growing stronger by the second. There was no way he was actually going to tell you anything of value, he didn’t like you that much.

“DO NOT GET THE WRONG IDEA, _HUMAN_. I AM ONLY TELLING YOU THIS IN ORDER TO SPITE EVERY OTHER MEMBER OF THIS HOUSEHOLD,” Black huffs, crossing his arms. “YOU MAY WANT TO SIT DOWN.”

After a moment’s hesitation, you sit down on the bed across from Black, folding your hands expectantly in your lap, on top of your sketchbook.

“So what is this mysterious secret that no one has told me yet?” You prop your chin up on a hand, leaning forwards slightly.

“HOW BEST TO WORD THIS?” Black thinks out loud. “I SUPPOSE I COULD START BY INTRODUCING MYSELF.” He shoots you a mischievous smile. “HELLO. MY NAME IS SANS.”

You blink owlishly at him, not understanding him in the slightest. “But Sans is downstairs watching TV with his brother?”

Was this a joke? Did he think you were some idiot that he could easily fool and make fun of afterwards?

Black scowls. “YES. _A_ SANS IS DOWNSTAIRS WATCHING TV WITH HIS BROTHER. THERE IS ANOTHER SANS SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU. AND ANOTHER ONE THAT IGNORED YOU AFTER FINDING OUT THAT YOU WERE A MAGE. AND YET ANOTHER ONE WHO IS PROBABLY IN HIS ROOM DRINKING MUSTARD LIKE A HEATHEN.”

Your mind completely freezes up. All of your stupid comparisons, the little ‘oh they look like each other’ moments you’d come to find normal in this household…

“What about Papyrus?”

“DOWNSTAIRS WATCHING TV WITH HIS BROTHER. AND IN HIS BEDROOM WRITING HIS INSIPID MUSIC. _AND_ PROBABLY DOING SOMETHING TO HIS JEEP. ONE IS PROBABLY WRITING HIS EDGY POETRY AS WE SPEAK.”

He had _no_ room to speak about people being edgy, first of all, he looked like a walking Hot Topic advertisement. You wondered if he and Fell ever went there together.

Second of all…

“So you’re all just- just _copies_ of one another? Like, clones, or something?” That was kind of creepy, actually. 

Black facepalms, and you wince. He didn’t have to be so rude about it. “NO, LITERALLY NOTHING LIKE THAT. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE MULTIVERSE THEORY?”

“Something about there being infinite alternate universes, yeah? So that’s where they’re from? Who’s the original?”

“FIRST OF ALL, _RUDE_ ,” Black hisses. “WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE, THERE IS NO ‘ORIGINAL’. IF YOU MEANT WHO THE PAIR IS FROM _THIS_ UNIVERSE, THEN THAT WOULD BE THE BROTHERS YOU KNOW AS ‘SANS’ AND ‘PAPYRUS’. THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY STUPID NICKNAMES, THE LUCKY BASTARDS.”

You think your brain might be short circuiting. You’re working double-time just to process the life changing information being thrown your way. This is certainly not how you’d expected to spend your afternoon. 

“Why did you agree to tell me all of this, again?”

“LIKE I SAID, I’M DOING THIS PURELY OUT OF SPITE. I’M MAKING BURRITOS TONIGHT, AND THAT’S _FINAL_.” 

You ignore that your attention was just harshly brought back to the cold cut fact that he was only telling you this because of a petty dinner dispute, and focus on your next question. 

“Should I still… use the nicknames?” You weren’t sure how to handle the fact that Papyrus and Orange were the same person. Or god forbid, Red and Blue.

Black rolls his eyes, picking his phone back up. His eyes lazily follow the text on the screen as he scrolls through some sort of social media. You wondered if you should get an account on there, you’d seen Pup using the website during your stay at the hotel. “STARS, YES. IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN SAY ‘PAPYRUS’ AND NOT HAVE FOUR PEOPLE LOOK AT YOU AND BLUE FOR SOME DAMN REASON.”

That was a relief. You didn’t know how you’d get used to calling Orange ‘Papyrus’, or Black ‘Sans’. You were glad the others never got to know you as your original name, or you would feel much worse about forcing them all to call you ‘Faye’.

“So basically all of- all of the tall brothers are Papyrus and all the short ones are Sans?” It was just a simple observation. Orange had said something similar sometime a while ago, and hearing all of this had brought the memory back to the forefront of your mind.

At the word ‘short’, Black glares at you with a look that could melt steel. In one quick movement, he grabs you and shoves you out into the hallway. You land bottom-first, sketchbook following you out. The door slams shut behind you, leaving you sitting there in shock.

“Something I said?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	14. Poetry Slam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spend some time with Red and Fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“AND SO, IN THE DARK, TRAGIC DEPTHS OF A SOUL,  
WHAT CAN TRULY BE HEARD,  
BUT SILENCE,” Fell finishes in a solemn tone, closing his poetry book softly. He takes a deep breath before turning around quickly. “HOW WAS THAT??” He exclaims.

It was moments like these, when you saw the bubbly excitement on his face, when you could see his similarity to Papyrus. You weren’t sure how to bring up the fact that you knew who they really were. You didn’t know if they would kick you out for being nosy enough to figure out one of their big secrets.

“ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL,” Black glances up from his phone, crossing his legs in the corner of the room. Fell’s face twitches slightly, but he keeps his composure. Next to you, Red jerks upwards, and you instinctively grab him to pull him back down.

“I thought it was great! Very… tragic?” You exclaim, clasping both hands together. You shoot Red a warning glance, smiling at the way Fell’s forced grin turns into more of a tentative smile. So, the tyrant had a soft spot.

“why is the undersized brat even here?” Red growls, just loud enough for even Black to probably hear. “i thought it was our turn. the miracle brothers got their go,” he complains.

“TO ANNOY YOU, OF COURSE,” Black replies sarcastically. Or maybe he wasn’t being sarcastic? It was honestly difficult to tell with him. He had turned out to be as good of a cook as Fell, at least, so that was a relief.

It was weird being able to actually see Black around the house. Though you supposed his and Blue’s reaction to your magic was the same— avoidance until you spoke to them. You’d seen more of Black in the past two days than in the entire month that you’d lived in the house. You wondered what the tie was between the two, Red and Sans hadn’t acted that way, and they were ‘Sanses’ by Black’s account.

“well, get _out_.” 

“I DON’T THINK SO, ‘IT IS A FREE COUNTRY’, AS THE HUMANS SAY,” Black hums, small smirk on his face. “BESIDES, YOU AREN’T IN YOUR BEDROOM, THIS IS THE STUDY.” He wiggles his fingers towards Red with a deadpan look on his face, looking back at his phone. “YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE.”

“no power my a-”

“RED! IF YOU TWO ARE DONE SQUABBLING LIKE _CHILDREN_ , I WILL MOVE ON TO MY NEXT POEM!” Fell exclaims. “THIS TIME, STRAIGHT FROM MY BLOG ITSELF,” He explains, whipping out his phone.

“STARS PLEASE, KILL ME NOW.” Black groans.

“Shh,” you scold him, turning your attention back towards Fell, who clears his nonexistent throat loudly and begins.

“KNIFE SHARP  
DAGGER DEEP  
NEVER GETTING ANY SLEEP  
DUST SPILLS FROM  
EVERY WOUND  
BUT NEVER TRULY HITS THE GROUND.  
SHADOWS HEAVY  
GROWING DARKER  
BLADES DRAWN AT THE EDGE  
TO TRULY  
REVEAL  
THE TRUTH.” 

Fell finishes, looking up from his phone to beam at you expectantly. It was still so odd to see him looking so much like a puppy, so much like Papyrus does when he wants affirmation. It was a welcome change.

You give him a couple claps, grinning. “Nice job! I liked your bit about ‘revealing the truth’.” 

Black snorts from where he is in the corner, eyeing Red. “PLEASE. IT’S JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHER DRIVEL. EDGY GARBAGE.” 

Red throws himself up off of the couch. “shut the _fuck_ up!” 

“Red, just ignore him,” you advise him. “He’s trying to get a rise out of you.” It was kind of strange that Red was more upset about the insults than Fell was, but you’d chalk it up to brotherly protectiveness.

Black hums. “AH… SUCCESSFULLY.” 

Red’s sockets go dark, and you feel the sudden snap of a teleport. In the blink of an eye, he reappears next to Black, then shortcuts away again, taking him with him.

You blink a couple times at the spot where Red and Black just were, seeing straight to the bookshelf that was once behind them but was now open to your view. 

“WELL,” Fell announces. “THAT WAS… SOMETHING?” He taps his fingers together experimentally, then bursts into a flurry of motion, once again grabbing out his phone. “NEXT POEM, THEN!”

“Wait, wait!” You interrupt, waving your hands frantically. “Do Black’s comments not… bother you?”

“OF COURSE NOT, YOU FOOL! HOW COULD ANY MEASLY COMMENT THAT WORTHLESS MIDGET BRINGS TO THE TABLE EVEN BEGIN TO COMPARE TO MY MASTERPIECES?” He brandishes his phone wildly, placing a hand on his chest for dramatic emphasis. “WHEN YOU ARE AS TALENTED AND GREAT AS I AM, YOU ARE NOT BOTHERED BY PETTY COMMENTS SUCH AS THAT!” 

His voice wavers slightly on the last couple words. You frown, stepping up from your seat.

“Are you sure?” You only ask because he didn’t seem so certain about what he was saying. 

“OF COURSE I AM, YOU INSIPID HUMAN!” He snaps, bringing his phone back up to read again.

You feel the snap of a shortcut, and Red reappears by your side with a bottle of mustard and a smirk.

“sorry, had to _take out the trash_.”

You snatch the mustard from his hand, immediately throwing it across the room.

“No more drinking mustard. Not again. _Never_ again.”

Red’s grin widens, and he reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out yet another bottle of mustard. He takes a swig, grinning lecherously.

“thought you might do that. good thing I had this handy backup~”

You slump into the couch, groaning in exasperation. “Why must you torture me so?”

“I AGREE. WHY MUST YOU TORTURE US SO?”

Red shrugs. “ ‘s fun. and don’ worry, faye,” he grins, almost sickly sweet. “i got something _**faye**_ bulous for you, also.” He reaches back into his pocket and pulls out a small bottle of maple syrup.

You stare at the bottle, then flick your eyes back up at his expectant face.

“No.”

“yeeees~~” Red croons, dancing the bottle closer to you. “join the dark side, faye. vore the syrup.”

“I’ll never join you!” You shout dramatically, swooning and falling backwards onto the sofa pillow.

While your mouth is open, Red apparently finds enough time to open the syrup cap, position it over your swooning face, and squeeze the bottle into your mouth. You click your mouth closed, shoving Red backwards onto the other side of the couch, and side up ramrod straight.

You slap a hand over your mouth, but the syrup is too thick to spit out, so you have to do the unthinkable, and actually consume the substance.

“RED?! HOW DARE YOU FORCE YOUR DISGUSTING CONDIMENT-DRINKING HABITS ON POOR, UNSUSPECTING-”

“Damn, that was actually pretty good,” you remark, surprised. You sigh, defeated. “Hand it over.” With a beckoning hand motion, Red gives the bottle over in shock.

“wow, i didn’t think you’d actually _like_ it. was just a prank? you can… _stop_ now????” Red is very clearly weirded out by your lack of hatred to the maple syrup. You wonder why, half the skeletons in the house drink stuff like this, it shouldn’t come as a shock.

“You got me into this mess, boneboy.” You shrug, taking a timid sip from the bottle. Shit, you understood how the others could drink condiments now. “Not my fault if I got stuck in it.”

“YOU LIKE IT?! NO! HOW COULD YOU JOIN THEM?!” Fell shouts, utterly forgetting his poetry. 

You shrug. “Red made a convincing case.”

Fell’s sockets narrow. “HE FORCED THE SYRUP INTO YOUR MOUTH. THAT WAS HIS CASE.”

“i know, i can be very persuasive~” Red says in a teasing tone. Your face goes deadpan, and you turn to him slowly.

“Did you just.”

“HE DID.”

“i did.”

The entire room goes silent, before Fell finally explodes into a flurry of motion.

“THAT’S IT, POETRY TIME IS _OVER_. I TRIED, YOU FAILED, GOODBYE, YOU DEGENERATES,” He declares, stomping out of the room. He slams the door behind him, leaving you and Red to flinch as it closes.

“welp. i’m going to grillby’s.” Red hops up from the couch, stretching as he does. You hear audible pops make their way up his spine, and wonder how that’s even possible considering what you know of how bones work. “wanna come?”

“What’s Grillby’s?” You ask curiously, head tilting to the side slightly.

“what’s… what’s _grillby’s_?!” Red looks at you incredulously. “are ya jokin’? please tell me you’re jokin’.”

“I am not ‘jokin’ ’,” you respond squarely. Why was it so strange that you’d never heard of it, it wasn’t like you’d been out of the house much?

Red stares at you blankly for a couple seconds, before he grabs your hand. “c’mon then. we’re goin to grillby's.” You feel the twist and bends of the shortcut, and the warping of the room around you in your perception, and you’re suddenly in the middle of a crowded bar.

It’s much warmer in here than back in the house, and your face immediately goes red with the heat. You wish you weren’t wearing such a thick sweater, but the AC back at the house was always really cold. You wondered why the temperature in here was kept so high, it was the middle of the summer, after all.

“here we are,” Red announces, letting go of your hand. You immediately miss the cool temperature it brought to you, but push up your sleeves and follow him to the bar counter.

When you sit down on a stool, and the bartender comes up to serve you, you immediately understand why the bar is so warm. The person tending the bar is literally made of fire. It’s actually quite beautiful, the way the flames shift and change in what you can see of their head and hands. 

“heeeey, grillbz,” Red greets the bartender, whose flames begin to narrow near the top in recognition of Red. At least, that’s what you assume it means. “a burger, fries, soda… actually better make that two burgers.” He gives you the side-eye. “and, eh, whatever she wants.”

The bartender (‘Grillbz’? Was that short for Grillby? Did he own the bar?) turns to you and waits expectantly, flames lapping upwards. You wonder how the tiny glasses he’s wearing stay on his face. Magic, probably.

“I… Uh-” You squint at the menu behind Grillby, running through the choices. “Fries? And a chocolate milkshake, please? With no whipped cream, and no cherry.”

Grillby nods and walks to a hidden room behind the bar, probably the kitchen, leaving you and Red by yourselves.

“so,” Red drawls, leaning against the bar. “nice place, huh?”

You take a full look around the room for the first time. There are many booths crowding the walls, and deli-style tables in the corners. It’s absolutely packed in here, nearly every table is completely filled.

It seems to be mainly a monster bar, you don’t see any humans sitting on their own, but you do see some being accompanied by a monster friend. It made sense, the owner and namesake of the bar was a monster himself, so humans would probably be less likely to come here without a monster escort.

Normally, such a crowded and noisy bar would crank your anxiety way up, make you wish for your earbuds, but the restaurant gives off a cozy, comfortable feeling unlike any other public place you’d ever been in. You understood why so many people liked it.

“Yeah, it’s really… cozy. Really friendly,” you murmur, propping your head up on your hand. “I like it.”

“sans ‘n i go here a lot. sometimes orange and pup come too, but they prefer muffet’s two blocks down,” he gestures with his thumb. “they got like… pastries and shit? i dunno, i don’t go. bar food sits way better, and boss won’t chew me out for it if i stick to good ol’ grillby’s instead of loading up on sweets,” he explains. 

You figure the whole ‘boss’ thing is like Pup’s ‘m’lord’ complex. You know they’re all alternate versions of eachother, but wasn’t it weird that it was a Sans and a Papyrus that had that similarity?

“You don’t _have_ to listen to your brother, you know,” you remark. “He’s not the boss of you.” You thought all the Sanses were older, anyways. Why would he act as if he were lesser?

“eh, doesn’t bother me much, sweetheart. though i appreciate the sentiment. i raised boss, ‘s only fair i take some time off and let him take charge for a while,” he shrugs. You supposed that was one way to think about it, even if you didn’t particularly agree.

Your food arrives, and you thank Grillby before glancing at Red, and digging in. You know that it’s magical food when your skin begins to give off a slight golden shimmer, and glows steadily brighter with each night of fries you take.

You spend the rest of the night eating, laughing, and talking with Red. It’s a good night.

You were glad you came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	15. Stay-At-Home Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You stay home with Sans while the others are away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

You wave at Papyrus as he leaves the house, along with six of the other skeletons you live with. He said something about visiting the monster ambassador, and their family. You remembered that the ambassador, Frisk, you think, was only around thirteen when they emerged from the Underground, arm in arm with the monsters. They were around nineteen now, and well versed in all matters of diplomacy and arguing for monsters’ and mages’ rights. 

It was impressive that he knew them, though you supposed that the Underground probably wasn’t a small enough place to keep someone like Papyrus hidden from their view. He had a way of making his presence known to just about everyone in a five hundred yard radius, after all. What was even more surprising was the fact that all of the others seemed to know them as well, seeing as they were from different universes, and probably never even met Frisk when they were Underground.

The only stipulation Papyrus made before leaving the house with your other housemates was that somebody was to stay home with you, make sure no one unsavory came to call. It was interesting that out of all the skeletons to stay home with you, instead of leaving with the rest of them, Sans would volunteer to do the deed.

“is your personal mausoleum out of the house?” Sans remarks from the living room as you shut the front door behind the seven skeletons leaving the premises.

You stifle a laugh. “Yeah, you have _no_ room to talk about ‘mausoleum’, Mr. Boneboy,” you joke, walking back into the living room to plop down onto a couch.

Sans scoffs. “i am offended,” he declares, dramatically turning his nasal bone up at you. “how dare you make such assumptions about me.”

“Dude. You’re literally made of bone,” you cajole him, poking at his cheekbone.

“and you’re made of skin but you don’t see me calling you ms. skingirl,” he shrugs, winking at you. You elbow him playfully, and he grabs the remote sitting next to him to turn on the television. Seems he really likes reality shows, because he was watching one back at the hotel, and he turns on another one this time.

It looks like something about women shopping for bridal gowns? Honestly, after a couple episodes of watching, the whole show comes off more as a money making scheme for the corporation producing the show than as something done to actually benefit these women. It bugged you that half of them refuse to take their own opinion into account and will happily follow whatever their entourage tells them to pick, even though the whole point of the show is that they were being won over by the beauty of their dress.

Reality shows always seemed superficial to you, anyway, but something about them seems to hook onto Sans. Probably the trashy arguments.

“no, that dress is way out of your budget,” Sans scolds the television. “and it’s ugly anyways. go with the other one,” he coaches.

“You kidding me?” You chime in, leaning against his shoulder. “The other one has those stupid ruffles on it that totally hide her figure. She needs to choose the mermaid cut, obviously.” You may not like reality shows, but if you can’t beat them, join them.

“excellent point. i’m switching sides.”

When she chooses the ruffly one, you and Sans simultaneously groan in dismay. 

“come on, her family has to hate her, right?? to tell her to pick that dress, they have to hate her,” Sans states matter-of-factly. You nod subconsciously in agreement, completely zoning out of what was actually going on. You didn’t have the best attention span when it came to these things.

“So how do Papyrus and the others know the monster ambassador?” You ask carefully, cautiously phrasing it as if you still thought the others were from this universe along with Sans and Papyrus. You know he’s trying to watch his show, but it’s weighing on your mind. “It’s a pretty prestigious position, and all. And how did a kid even get that job in the first place?”

Sans twitches only barely noticeably, if you hadn’t known to watch for signs of a lie, you probably would have been fooled. 

“papyrus met them underground. the others met th’ kiddo after we all got up here,” he replies coolly. “my bro and the kid are really good friends.” He pauses in thought. “and as for how a kid got that job…” he shrugs. “i dunno. king an’ queen were pretty chill about the whole thing. i don’t think any humans wanted to argue. kid does a good job, tries their best. your species doesn’t make it easy on them, though,” Sans remarks, picking up the remote to mute the television.

You wince. “Yeah, sorry for…all of that. To be fair, there are nice people.”

“yeah, like you,” he responds nonchalantly. “you’re one ‘a the good ones.”

Your breath catches slightly, emotion beginning to well up in your chest. You felt flattered, of course, and happy, but also… guilty. Guilty that you hadn’t told anyone that you knew their secret yet. You didn’t know how he’d react, or if he’d let you continue staying with him if he knew you knew all of that stuff. They clearly went through pains to keep it from you, they must have had a good reason.

“Sans?” You ask, after debating with yourself for a moment. “Can I… tell you something?” It was probably best to be honest than to let him find out on his own and suspect your moral character.

“shoot.”

“So the other day I- I went to talk to… to Black,” You stumble, fidgeting with your hands as you speak. “And he told me- I didn’t ask him to, he just- he just kind of did- he told me that all of the others, aside from your brother and you, are…” You stare insistently down at the thick cloth of the couch, unwilling to meet Sans’s gaze. “From alternate universes? And you’re all- all- all the same two people?”

Sans’s expression goes dark, eye lights completely disappearing. The rigid grin still on his face makes the whole thing feel entirely creepy.

Just as soon as his expression shifted for the worse, it returns to normal, white pinpricks blinking back into existence in his eye sockets.

“so he told you, huh? shoulda known he had loose lips. well, i mean, if he had lips in the first place, that is.” Sans sighs, bags under his eyes somehow becoming even more prominent than they always were. “i wasn’t exactly plannin’ on you finding out, but eh, might as well. if we’re getting secrets out in the open, and everything, mind telling me why the government is after you?”

His voice takes on a warning tone, and you know that it’s not really a request. You take a brief moment to mourn the time in the forest when he defended your right to keep your past a secret, and regret his change in conviction.

“I don’t… want to,” you faltered, grabbing at your arm weakly. “Do I have to?”

Sans shoots you a glare, but eventually breaks. “fine, no. you don’t have to. i’m not gonna make you tell me something you’re not comfortable with. but think on it.”

You nod frantically, relieved at not having to share such information. You’d tell everyone in your own time.

“I will tell- tell you, one day. I promise.”

Sans smiles grimly. “i’ll hold you to it. and i’m gonna tell the others you know who they really are, they have a right to know.”

You hum in affirmation, you know there might be some blowback from that, but you’d deal with the consequences. 

“I’m sorry.”

Sans sighs reluctantly. “no, don’t apologize. it’s not your fault black decided to get a little loose with the information he shared. you’re not at fault, i’m just upset.” He pulls his hand away from his forehead and glances back up at you. “you must have questions?”

“A couple,” you concede. “Like, what’s the deal with Blue, Orange, Pup, and Black with mages? Papyrus said something bad happened with mages in the past, which I assume is because of the whole ‘alternate universes’ thing.”

“hoo boy,” Sans huffs, preparing himself. “that’s kind of… i think i probably wouldn’t tell it as well as they could. they lived it, after all. but, i know their governments did something to the mages of their universes. something that changed them. and at least in pup and black’s case, they even went so far as to institute a police state with the mages as the enforcers.” He shrugs. “that’s about all i know about the issue. at least that hasn’t happened here.”

Well, that was better than nothing. “That explains their… their reactions, at least,” you shrug. “How did they all get here?”

“i-” Sans stops himself mid-sentence, hesitant. “it’s difficult to explain. it might be easier to just… show you?”

“Oh.” You blink at him. “Okay.”

 

———

 

Your footsteps echo on the tiles beneath you as you explore the room with Sans by your side.

“How did I never know about the secret basement laboratory beneath the garage?” You ask incredulously. “And since when were you a scientist?” Honestly, just being in a lab was giving you chills up your spine, but you know it’s not the same here. You’ll be fine.

Sans shrugs. “ ‘s called a ‘secret basement laboratory’ for a reason. i wouldn’t call myself a scientist, exactly, i just… dabble?” He walks over to a work table and rummages around with a stack of ruffles blueprints. “i dunno. i’m not the only one who comes down here.”

“So what did you want to show me?” You ask, rocking back and forth on your heels. Sans turns to you, stack of papers in hand.

“follow me,” He offers, gesturing with his free hand, and you do. You eventually reach what looks like scrap metal. Well, that probably wasn’t fair to scrap metal. It looked like it was once probably an amazing machine, but had been beaten over once too many times with a hammer and then exploded. Twice.

“What… what is that?” You ask cautiously, afraid to offend the skeleton next to you.

“it’s what brought all the others here,” Sans replies softly. “it was broken ever since i was little, i finally finally fixed it two years ago. but then…” He sighs, shaking his head. He shoves the blueprints he’s holding onto your hands, and you can see that they look like schematics for a machine of around the size of the destroyed metal in front of you. “it went crazy. brought everyone here. just… broke. i don’t think it’s fixable, not again. they’re stuck here, probably for good.”

You clutch at the blueprints, studying the machine. It must have been beautiful, a real marvel of technology, but it was gone now. You glance at Sans, who looks as if he’s struggling to keep from breaking down. You don’t blame him, he must feel incredibly guilty.

You place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he startled out of whatever dark thoughts are occupying his mind. 

“Hey, it’s alright. Don’t blame yourself, you couldn’t have known what would happen. It’ll be okay,” you reassure him. You didn’t know if you had any right to comfort others when your own life was such a mess, but you were going to do it anyway.

“they’re never gonna get to go back. they know it, too. they haven’t said anything about it, but they know it.” He grimaces, then forces the corners of his mouth up into a twisted smile. “i suppose that’s all the better for you though, huh?” He questions, tilting his body up to look at you. Your hand slides off of his shoulder to rest at your side.

“What- what do you mean?”

Sans laughs dryly, and it’s not kind. It’s strange to hear such a sound coming from him. “you’ll never have to say goodbye,” he croaks. 

The silence in the room is deafening, the sound of dripping water just barely audible in the dimly lit laboratory. Eventually Sans sighs so heavily that you’re afraid that he’s angry at you, but just shakes his head at the ground and walks towards the door leading back to the garage.

“i shouldn’t have brought you here, faye. you didn’t need to see all this.”

You shake your head in response, jogging over to meet him. “No, no. I needed to know. Thank you for telling me.” You hesitate, but continue softly, “You know, it really isn’t your fault, at all. You’re a good person, Sans.”

Sans smiles sadly at you. “and maybe one day i’ll even believe it.”

 

———

 

“WE’RE HOME!” Papyrus shouts, flinging open the front door. 

“Oh, hey Papyrus,” you exclaim from the couch, holding a bowl of popcorn in your lap. You bat Sans’s hand away from your bowl and direct it towards his own. “How was your visit?”

“REALLY, REALLY GREAT!” He yells exuberantly, hanging his jacket on the coat rack by the door. You stand up from the couch, taking your popcorn with you to ensure that Sans wouldn’t take any, and meet him in the entryway. You set the popcorn down on a small chair and stand politely.

“EH, MORE LIKE AVERAGE,” Fell pipes in from behind him.

“OH, HUSH, FELL,” Blue pokes at the taller, edgier Papyrus. “YOU’RE JUST UPSET THAT MX. FRISK DIDN’T GIVE YOU A HUG LIKE THEY DID PAPYRUS.”

“AM NOT!” Fell protests, turning his head up into the air and crossing his arms. It was almost adorable how much he looked like Papyrus in that stance, even though Papyrus would never act so haughty.

“ARE TOO!” Blue responds. And you had never noticed before, but the shade of baby blue that Blue wore was just like Sans’s sweater! 

“AM NOT!”

“ARE TOO!”

“AM-”

“Sans! Papyrus! Quit it!” Your hands fly up to cover your mouth as soon as the words escape, but it’s too late, you can’t take them back. You probably shouldn’t have been comparing them to Sans and Papyrus if you were trying not to let it slip that you knew who they were. Whoops.

“what did you just say?” 

Looks like you have some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	16. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yelling is your *favorite* thing. (Heavy sarcasm is heavy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m early???? I made a discord for this fic, and just being a friend in general? Go on my tumblr, it’ll be in my posts idjfjfk. I have unlimited spots, since I don’t think all that many people will join lol.
> 
>  
> 
> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“Shit.” 

“no, seriously, what the _fuck_ did you just say?!” Red pushes past his brother and marches up to you, sticking an accusing finger in your face. You hadn’t even known he was there, but upon further inspection, all of the skeletons that Papyrus took out of the house are piled up behind the door, a mixture of confusion, stoney displeasure, and rage on their faces.

“Am I allowed to say ‘nothing’?” You ask sheepishly, already knowing the answer.

“YOU SURE AS HELL ARE NOT,” Fell interjects, crossing his arms. “SINCE WHEN ARE WE USING REAL NAMES? I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO BE INFORMED OF THIS, ‘THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE FELL’ JUST DOESN’T QUITE HAVE THE RIGHT RING TO IT.”

Orange shoves past the people in the doorway, grabs your bowl of popcorn, salutes you lazily, and leaves, winking all the while. “mine now. sorry, i don’t make the rules. i’m goin to my room. talk to me when you escape from the angry mob.”

As he leaves, Blue starts a little half-chase, but gives up before he’s even halfway across the room, as Orange is already gone. “PAPYRUS?! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME IN THE WAKE OF THIS CRISIS?? ARE YOU NOT UPSET?”

It takes your brain a second to make the distinction between Orange-Papyrus and Papyrus-Papyrus, but you get it eventually. You had a feeling that now that they knew that you knew their names, you’d have to do a lot more sorting out who was who from now on.

“I SWEAR, YOU THINK YOU’D BE BETTER AT KEEPING SECRETS, SEEING AS YOUR ENTIRE REASON FOR BEING HERE IS ONE BIG SECRET,” remarks Black, quirking up a brow as he leans against the doorframe. “BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY HILARIOUS.”

“w-what do you mean, m’lord?” Pup asks shakily from his brother’s side, fingers fidgeting with a cord connecting his headphones to his phone. You realize this is the first time you’ve ever really seen them interact with each other. It’s strange, Pup acts so… cowed by his brother, shrunken down, hunched over. 

“YES, WHAT _DO_ YOU MEAN?” Fell pipes up, voice biting and harsh. “ARE YOU THE IDIOT WHO TOLD HER?”

“NOT GOING TO LIE, YES. WHAT CAN I SAY, YOU DIDN’T LET ME MAKE BURRITOS, I WAS PISSED,” Black replies, nonplussed.

“black what the actual _fuck_. i thought we were supposed to be keeping this a secret? i gave up my _name_ for this shit.” Red turns on Black, who looks utterly unenthused and pushes the accusing finger away from his face with a deadpan expression.

“YES, YES. I DID AS WELL. AFTER ALL, _SANS_ , IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR FOUR DIFFERENT ‘SANS’ES TO LIVE UNDER THE SAME ROOF, NOW WOULDN’T IT?” Black smirks. “I SIMPLY LEVELED THE ODDS, AFTER ALL, IF MISS MAGE HERE HAD TO SHARE SUCH A PERSONAL ASPECT OF HERSELF WITH US, IT IS ONLY FAIR THAT WE SHARE SOMETHING WITH HER.”

“you know for a _fact_ that that’s not the same fucking thi-”

“WAIT, WHAT?” All heads swivel towards Fell who looks utterly confused now. “THE HUMAN IS A MAGE? WHY DID NO ONE THINK TO TELL ME THIS?!”

You cringe. You must have forgotten to tell him. There were eight skeletons in this house, you were bound to forget someone. And now he probably thought that you’d gone and done it on purpose, too.

“uh, yeah, boss. thought she woulda told you that. she told me,” Red shrugs. The words make you wince. You had meant to tell Fell, you really did. You just… never got around to it.

“ACCIDENTALLY SHOWED ME, WHEN WE WERE WALKING HOME FROM DINNER,” Blue adds. “AND TOLD MY BROTHER.”

“pup outed her to me after the government came to tear shit apart,” Sans peeps up from the living rooms couch. You glare at him, he had no room to interject on the conversation that he wasn’t even trying to defend you in. He raises a brow at your frustrated expression and goes back to watching his reality show, shoving popcorn into his mouth.

“eh, yeah, she told me,” Pup says, inching nervously away from his brother.

“WELL, I NEARLY BROKE MY GODDAMN ARM ON HER MAGIC,” Black huffs.

“BLACK,” Papyrus, who had been silent this whole time, scolds. “YOU KNOW SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT IF YOU HAD NOT ASSAULTED HER FIRST.”

“SO I’M THE LAST ONE TO KNOW?!” Fell cries out, distraught.

You wince, but nod in admission. “I meant to...to tell you, sometime, but then- then you left the room after the poetry thing, and there was never really a good time after that…” you mumble, staring down at your feet.

“HUMPH. WELL. IF YOU WERE NOT GOING TO TELL ME THIS SUPER SPECIAL MAGE SECRET, I WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT A SUPER SPECIAL SECRET I HAVE,” Fell pouts, with all the grace and pettiness of a five year old, and humphs his way upstairs. You hear a door slam so loudly that it makes the walls rattle, and instinctively flinch.

“you really hurt his feelings, faye,” Red says from behind you, making you whirl around to see him face to face. He crosses his arms over his chest, almost defensively. “you know, i didn’t have too much of a problem with the mage shit, you can’t control it an’ all, but this is different. it’s kind of…” His eyelights dart from side to side frantically before resting back on you. “dangerous. you can’t go around calling us by our real names. i mean, it’s gotta be pretty hard to dissect a skeleton, but i’m pretty fuckin sure your government would try.”

“I AGREE,” Papyrus interjects. “WE CAME UP WITH THESE NICKNAMES TO KEEP THE OTHERS SAFE, YOU NEED TO BE MUCH MORE CAREFUL FROM NOW ON.”

“CAN IT, TWIZZLER,” Black growls. “YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS CONVERSATION. YOU GOT TO KEEP YOUR OWN STARSDAMNED NAME.”

“I WOULDN’T MIND BEING CALLED ‘SANS’ EVERY NOW AND THEN,” Blue admits quietly, but is largely ignored by the arguing skeletons.

“well, if you weren’t such an undersized brat,” Red snarks, gesturing towards Black, “papyrus wouldn’t feel the need to support your part of the conversation.”

You glance towards Sans, who’s still sitting on the couch watching bad reality shows, looking fairly unbothered by the conversation at hand. You aspired to have that level of chill one day. Well, judging by the conversation you’d had with him a few hours prior, it might not actually be chill, but just depression. Maybe it wasn’t something to be idolized.

Pup looks awfully anxious standing next to his brother as Black gets more and more worked up and angry, his voice growing louder and louder in anger. Even though it isn’t directed towards him, you can see his fingers twitching upwards towards his green headphones, as if he were itching to put them on. He was slowly but surely inching backwards into a corner, most likely subconsciously.

You nervously eye the arguing trio, Blue trying desperately to break into the conversation but failing miserably, and edge your way around the squabbling skeletons to Pup. It takes a second for him to even notice you, he looks sort of out-of-it, a far off look on his face, glazed over-like. When you nudge his side, he snaps to attention, head twisting immediately to face you.

You don’t want to say anything for risk of distracting the fight in front of you, but you give him a significant look, and grab his hand. He seems to understand, and you immediately feel the sensation of a shortcut, and you’re in Pup’s room. 

“Thanks,” you smile tentatively, bracing a hand on his shoulder as you reacquaint yourself to standing normally. “I don’t know if I could’ve handled more yelling.”

He goes for what was probably supposed to be a smile, but flops down on his bed and puts his headphones on, opening his laptop screen. You take this as your cue to leave, and gesture awkwardly towards the door.

“I think Orange said to talk to him? So I’ll… go do that. Bye?”

He glances back up to you and nods goodbye with a smile, looking back at his computer with a focused look on his face. You were excited to see what this session of work would produce. 

You knock tentatively on Orange’s door when you reach it, the door’s decoration having changed from the last time you saw it. The chalkboard on the door that used to read “orange allowed. woo.” Now had the word ‘orange’ very clearly erased in a hurry, and replaced in scrabbly writing, which you can make out to read ‘papyrus’. Well, looks like your actions had a bit more consequence than you might have thought?

“come in,” Orange’s lazy voice replies, and you nudge the door open, happy to escape the hall where you could still hear arguing voices the from downstairs entry way.

“You told me to come talk to you?” You ask, softly shutting the door behind you to muffle the screaming voices, and leaning back against it. “Look, I didn’t- I didn’t ask for Black to-”

“no, i get it,” Orange sighs, curling an arm around your popcorn, which is sitting in its bowl at his side. “not your fault. i mean, you still sat there and listened to the whole spiel, but i can’t fault you for that.”

“So why did you want me in here?” You ask cautiously, cocking your head to the side slightly.

Orange surveys you for a few moments before patting the side of his bed and slumping down on his pillows with a soft ‘poof’. He extends the bowl of popcorn back towards you, which you take as a peace offering.

You pick yourself up from the door, and pad over to the bowl, gingerly sitting down on the bed. 

“eat up, it’s story time,” he sarcastically drawls, putting a toothpick in his mouth which he immediately begins to gnaw on. Must be a replacement for cigarettes for when you’re around.

You obediently shove a handful of popcorn in your mouth, chewing robotically as Orange regards you with an expression of appreciative confusion. He nods, as if internally thinking ‘mood’, then clears his nonexistent throat to begin.

“so, like. i wanted to tell you all this sooner, but obviously it wouldn’t have made much sense to you, you still needed to… fill in the blanks,” Orange words carefully. You nod in response, taking another handful of popcorn.

“Buch I knoe awe duh stufsh naow,” you try to say, mouth too full to actually speak.

Orange tilts his head in amusement, but continues with what he was trying to say. “anyway. so as you know, mages weren’t exactly… good. in my universe.” His expression holds a dark story hidden in its depths. “not that they were always that way,” he admits, shrugging. “something changed them. we never really found out what. but after the government got their hands on them, they weren’t people anymore.”

You swallow heavily, anxiety beginning to creep it’s way up your spine. “What do you mean?”

“they were- in my universe, anyway, it was worse for pup and black,” he shivers, “they were like… law enforcement? but so robotic, cold. they didn’t think. didn’t feel. it was like all they knew was protocol. and they knew magic, so they could enforce it.”

“That’s…” you take a second to stare down at your hands. If there were other universes, that meant there were other yous, right? What happened to you when you didn’t have Papyrus? Obviously that version of you wouldn’t, he was right there in front of you. “That’s terrible. I’m sorry, I don’t…”

His hand touches your shoulder, jolting you out of your thoughts. “hey, it’s okay. we’re here now,” he smiles. “it’ll be fine. your surface seems better than ours, and your government's views on things are… weird, granted, but so much different from ours,” he assures you. “it’s clearly not happening here.”

“ **You’re wrong.** ”

Orange looks startled, and draws his hand back. “w-what?”

“ **You’re-** ” you suck in a sharp breath, jerking your head to the side. “wrong. You’re wrong.”

Orange looks at you with a desperate, searching look. “but… how could you know that, r-right? i mean, you- you weren’t there, you wouldn’t know, right?” He actually looks afraid.

“Fuck,” you swear under your breath. After all your dodging and avoiding, you guessed it was time. “Can we- can you get all the guys into the living room? I…” you drag a tired hand down your face. “I don’t want to tell this more than once.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to check out the discord if you’re interested! It’s linked on my tumblr. 
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	17. A Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You tell them everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting early because I have school tomorrow and also I’m excited whoops. I post early a lot, don’t I.
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“I was-I was fifteen when my parents sold me out to the government.”

There are immediate sounds of protest in the room, sounds of dismay. You close your eyes, breathe, and continue. You could do this. It needed to be said.

“It wasn’t a… a mandatory program, or anything. Completely and t-totally voluntary. Thing is, minors can’t choose- they can’t decide shit for themselves. Parental consent is everything. They signed away my right to- to live, and away I went,” you explain with a wavering voice.

Papyrus’s arms wrap around you from behind in a comforting hug as you face the rest of your housemates, and you curl up into the embrace. He’d already heard this story, but it was nice for him to be here.

“P-Project.. Project Fairy was started to learn how magic is produced in humans. Monsters had tried to… to explain, you know, when you got out, that it came from your souls, but I g-guess the government didn’t believe in the concept of a physical soul, so they focused on the parts of the body that they could see instead.” You notice multiple skeletons make a face of disgust.

“HOW RIDICULOUS!” Blue exclaims, jumping up. “THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO MESS WITH YOU THAT WAY!” 

“IT’S NOT LIKE SHE HAD A CHOICE, BLUE,” Papyrus scolds. He gestures for you to continue with your story, so you do.

“Project… Project Fairy isn’t known to the public, but somehow it seeped into common language anyways. ‘F-Fairy’ is a slur for mages. I… you ever wondered why I chose the name ‘Faye’?” You grin sadly, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. You sniff, wiping them away. You give them a moment, since they’re obviously looking it up on their phones. When they look back at you in worry, you know it’s time to continue.

“It means ‘Fairy’.” When someone inhales to interrupt you, you lift a hand to silence them. “No, please. I-I. I like it better this way. They can’t use it against me if I already chose it for myself.”

“ARE YOU OKAY?” Papyrus asks from behind you, and you nod quickly, blinking your eyes to clear them. This was probably the only part of the conversation that would be new to Papyrus.

“A-anyways. Um. I was brought to the government facility? It’s only a town and a half over. They… they shaved my head, tattooed a barcode-” you reach up to push back your hair and reveal the black ink partially hidden by the hair, which had since grown back over the years since you’d first had it shaved. “A-and gave me a number. Course, they still called me by my name, a lot of the time, but the number was what the system knew me by. Mage 2981.”

“they took your freedom, just as we gained ours,” Sans relates. You nod sadly, leaning back against Papyrus.

“I… the experiments they did on me… _six years_. They did… surgeries on me. Invasive brain procedures, I’m not even sure what they changed. They put me in simulations so realistic I couldn’t tell when I was under and when I was awake. I still- I still don’t know sometimes if I’m just dreaming all of this inside of a computer in the facility.” 

Papyrus makes a noise like he’s about to interrupt you, probably a reassurance, but you let the rest of your phrase out anyway.

“But! My one indicator, was…” you hold out your hand for the group of skeletons to see. “This.”

“your… ring?” Red asks. “what about it?”

“For whatever reason, they never… never replicated it in the sim. Probably never thought of it. If I have it, this is real. And I have it. So I’m here.”

“WAIT,” Blue interrupts. “YOU SAID SIX YEARS. I THOUGHT… DON’T HUMANS BECOME LEGAL ADULTS AT 18? THAT WOULD MAKE YOU…” He looks down to count on his fingers. “21?”

You shift uncomfortably. “I figured you wouldn’t hear about that. They always were good at covering things up. Thing is… I’m not legally considered to be ‘fully human’.”

The entire room erupts in protest, shouting and ranting, and you can’t stop the small smile that grows on your face when you realize that it’s in your defense.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘NOT HUMAN’?” Fell shouts. “MAGES ARE LITERALLY JUST HUMAN MAGIC USERS.”

“I-I guess, but the government doesn’t care. They wanted to keep us past the age of maturity, so they made- they voted on a law that declared mages to be a type of sub-human. I don’t have equal rights. They kept me.”

Black looks uncomfortable. “THEN… WHY ARE YOU HERE?” 

You smile a little at the familiar question. “They made a mistake,” you respond simply. “They made a mistake, and hired someone new without background checking them well enough, or s-something? They got here, and I guess I was scheduled to go up next on the table, but the lady… she didn’t like what was going on. She loosened my magic restraints. Told me to run.” You shudder. “I don’t know how I got out without killing anyone. But either way, I was wandering the alleys of the city in a filthy lab gown. And then…”

“I FOUND HER,” Papyrus finishes for you, giving you an appreciative squeeze. “AND I TOOK HER TO A HOTEL WHILE I GOT THINGS SET UP HERE. AND YOU ALL KNOW THE REST.”

“how are you not more fucked up?” Red asks bluntly, leaning back on a hand. 

“I don’t… know?”

“EXCUSE ME, FAYE IS PLENTY FUCKED UP ENOUGH TO NOT BE CRITICIZED, THANK YOU,” Papyrus huffs, hugging you even tighter. It was becoming difficult to breath, but you didn’t mind.

“Papyrus… did you just… did you just swear?”

“pff. he swears all the time. just not around you. thinks he’ll be a ‘bad influence’” Sans air-quotes. 

“BESIDES,” Fell snarks. “I’VE SEEN HOW FUCKED UP SHE IS MYSELF. AND SHE’S PRETTY FUCKED UP. THAT’S SAYING SOMETHING, COMING FROM ME.”

“so when- when the government came here,” Pup calls out from the corner he’s sitting in, at the opposite end of the room from his brother, “they were trying to get you back? wouldn’t it be easier to just let you go?”

You shake your head. “No.”

“well, why not?” Sans asks. “there’s gotta be enough mages in the program to make up for your absence.”

“There were when it started. Then they started doing brain operations. And simulations so real and so frequent it drove people insane. And physical training so intense people just… gave out.” You sigh, fidgeting with your ring, your lifeline. “What I’m trying to say is… I’m one of the few left alive.”

Your housemates glance at each other, and you know exactly what they’re thinking. Probably something like ‘what have we gotten ourselves into’ or ‘we don’t need this struggle’ or ‘we’re better off without her’.

“I understand if learning this- if I- if you don’t want me here anymore. I’m a danger, you’re not safe around me, and-”

“i can’t speak for the rest of ‘em, but that’s not what i was thinkin at all,” Red responds.

“I JUST WANT TO KEEP YOU SAFE,” Blue affirms, nodding. “I PROMISE, THEY WON’T GET YOU BACK.”

“You- you guys really don’t have to say all that, for me. It’s okay, I’m a burden, I’m not worth it, I’m-”

“eh, you’re worth enough, honey,” Orange grins, leaning back in his seat.

“IF YOU REALLY THINK I’M THROWING YOU OUT,” Papyrus tuts, “I REALLY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PHRASE THIS KINDLY, BUT THAT IS NOT VERY INTELLIGENT.”

“same here,” Sans hums. “told you ‘bout the lab, might as well keep ya,” he jokes, but you know what he means.

“YOU TOLD HER WHAT?!” Fell shouts, facepalming. “IS EVERYONE LEARNING EVERYTHING TODAY?????”

“Hmm. Seems like it.”

“HUMPH. FINE THEN. I HAVE A CAT,” he states simply.

“YOU SNUCK A MANGY CAT IN HERE?” Black shrieks, scrambling back. Was he actually afraid? “WHERE?”

“EXCUSE ME, DOOMFANGER IS MOST CERTAINLY _NOT_ MANGY,” Fell huffs.

“wait, boss, how’d you even bring your old cat over here?” Red asks in confusion. “you had ‘im in the old universe.”

Fell’s eyelights dart from side to side nervously, mouth opening and closing with small little clicks before he finally works up the courage to speak. “WHEN THE MACHINE WENT OFF… HE JUMPED ON TOP OF ME? AND KNOCKED ME INTO IT?”

“so you wouldn’t even be here if your cat didn’t jump on you?” Orange asks skeptically, raising a brow.

“i mean, m’lord wouldn’t be here if-” Pup starts, snickering, but is interrupted by his brother.

“ **M U T T .** ” Black warns, eye sockets going dark.

“-if he hadn’t been too busy practicing his monologues in a hand mirror to see where he was going, and-”

A wordless, formless shriek erupts from Black, who storms out of the room, slamming several doors in his wake. There weren’t even that many doors between him and his bedroom, but it seemed he went out of his way to be dramatic.

Someone coughs to break the silence, and you giggle. 

“anyway, our point is,” Orange says, “we aren’t going to abandon you just ‘cause you have a tragic backstory or something. we took you in, and we’ll be damned if we’re going to let you get hurt again.”

“i think she needs to be trained in magic. as soon as possible.” All heads swivel to Pup, who’s standing up to make his point. “she suggested it to me once, i didn’t take it seriously,” he shrugs. “i am now.”

“I’M SURE THAT ISN’T NECESSARY,” Blue defends hurriedly. “ALL EIGHT OF US ARE HIGHLY SKILLED. IT’S NOT LIKE SHE’S DEFENSELESS.”

“As long as I’m with you.” you finish. “I know it’s weird, a mage not being good with magic. It used to come naturally to me. Then the government messed with my head, hurt me for years. It’s much more difficult now. I would… I would appreciate the help gaining back what should naturally be mine.”

“IF YOU ALL WON’T TEACH HER, I WILL,” Papyrus offers. You glance up at him to see him grinning down at you.

“Really?”

“OF COURSE! I MAINTAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF CONTROL IN MY MAGIC, I WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT TUTOR!” He exclaims, letting go of you to speak wildly with a lot of motion.

“NONSENSE! SHE WOULD BENEFIT FAR MORE FROM A TEACHER SUCH AS MYSELF, SEEING AS I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO GET INTO THE ROYAL GUARD. AND BECOME THE CAPTAIN,” Fell deadpans.

“if that were the only criteria,” Sans drawls, “black would be an a+ candidate.”

Blue shifts uncomfortably. “I STILL DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. I KNOW YOU’RE NOT BAD, OR ANYTHING,” He hurriedly amends, “BUT I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS. YOU COULD GET REALLY HURT, AND SO COULD HE. HE NOT EXACTLY TRAINED TO TEACH.”

“Nah, I’m sure it’ll be fine, he’s used magic all his life,” you dismiss.

 

———

 

This was not fine.

“Ow! Fucking fuck!”

“LANGUAGE!”

“Papyrus your brother already told me you swear all the time, don’t give me that!” You shout from across the forest clearing, clutching your wrist which was burned from magical recoil. A human-only flaw, apparently. Totally unfair that monsters didn’t have to deal with it, but whatever.

He’s by your side in an instant, reaching out to gently cradle your wrist. “DO YOU NEED ME TO HEAL IT?”

You look up at him with big eyes. “Is that a thing you can do?”

“OH! YES! JUST GIVE ME A MOMENT…” He replies, squinting his sockets to concentrate. You quickly feel a warmth seeping into your joint, and the stinging burn fades away. When the pain is gone, he releases your wrist and steps back. “BETTER?”

You tentatively rotate your wrist, mildly surprised when the previously burned skin doesn’t hurt with the movement. “Yes!” you respond in awe. “Thank you!”

“IT WAS NO TROUBLE AT ALL!” Papyrus assures you.

“Can you… can you teach me how to do that?” You ask hesitantly.

Papyrus pauses, but smiles, and nods. “OH, YES, DEFINITELY! IN FACT, THAT IS USUALLY ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS A MONSTER LEARNS. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE STARTED YOU ON THAT, SORRY,” he sweats nervously.

You blink in surprise. “You mean I wasn’t supposed to try and summon an attack for an hour straight until it finally recoiled and burned my hand and wrist?”

“ERR… NO? I SUPPOSE NOT. I’LL TEACH YOU THAT NEXT, THOUGH.”

You nod in admission, sighing and looking up to wait for instructions.

“NOW, TO LEARN THIS…” Papyrus looks to the side anxiously. “I DO NOT WANT YOU TO TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY, OF COURSE, BUT TO LEARN HEALING MAGIC, YOU HAVE TO FIRST SUMMON YOUR SOUL.” He tuts in thought before continuing. “NOW, I KNOW YOU ARE UNABLE TO AT THE MOMENT, SO I SHALL SUMMON IT FOR YOU!”

“I… okay.” 

“ARE YOU PREPARED?” He asks, and you nod, closing your eyes to brace yourself.

When you feel a tugging sensation in your chest, and a cooling feeling spread throughout the area, you can’t help but look down and open your eyes. You’d never seen your soul before, the government hadn’t believed they existed.

It glows a cherry red, bright green spots freckling the surface heavily. And until it stops moving, you think it’s beautiful. Until it reaches its stopping point, and you get to really look.

And see the big crack down the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord for this fic, I reblog the link frequently on my tumblr! It has unlimited uses, so come on down!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	18. Let’s Get Cooking!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spend time with Papyrus, Fell, and Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“What’s… wrong with it?” You ask curiously, and with at least a little disappointment. Even this part of you was messed up. You could never escape what happened to you, not even for a moment.

Papyrus looks at the crack for a second longer, then forces himself to drag his gaze back up to your worried eyes. “O-OH! IT’S NO-NO WORRY, REALLY! COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY NORM-”

“Papyrus,” you sigh, “please.” Papyrus drops his gaze to the grass at his feet in shame, and your soul slowly returns to its rightful place in your body.

“IT’S…” His voice drops to a low mumble, and you have to strain to keep hearing him, which is a feat considering his normal volume. “It’s. Trauma? You got hurt really bad, in your soul, in your emotions, and it hasn’t healed.” He pauses, before adding. “One of that size will probably scar, as well. I probably should have expected it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Without thinking, you’ve already closed the small distance in a hug. “You can’t think of everything, Papyrus,” you assure him. “I’m fine. And I know now. How do I make it better?”

He glances back down at you skeptically, but does return the hug. “YOU HAVE TO BE MENTALLY HEALED FROM THE EVENT,” he responds reluctantly, voice returning to its proper volume. “WHICH, I ADMIT, MAY BE RATHER DIFFICULT FOR YOU, CONSIDERING THE GOVERNMENT IS ACTIVELY HUNTING YOU DOWN. BUT! ALL OF THIS SELF-HATRED AND SELF-BLAMING DEFINITELY DOES NOT HELP!” He decides, abruptly picking you up to walk you back to the house. 

“Wha- Papyrus I can walk!”

“NONSENSE, YOU HAVE… ERM, _ATTEMPTED_ TO USE A LOT OF MAGIC TODAY, YOU MUST BE VERY EXHAUSTED, SO RELAX.”

Reluctantly, you slump against his shirt as he walks back to the house from the clearing he took you out to teach you in. The others had been surprised that he wanted to start teaching you so soon after your confession, and a notable few had to practically be pried off of you with a crowbar so you could learn in peace.

But you supposed it was smart of him to get to the lessons so soon. It took your mind off of the secrets you just divulged, and introduced something new. Although, now that you knew what you did about your soul, you weren’t sure that this was the distraction Papyrus was hoping for. 

The rocking motion of his stride is actually rather relaxing, now that you think about it, and you can hear a hum of magic in his chest. It has a pitch and frequency to it that just _feels_ like Papyrus, even though that shouldn’t make sense, it’s just a sound. The constant humming and motion combined with the exhaustion of your workout prove to work together to make your eyelids very heavy, and they eventually close. You drift off to sleep, and have good dreams.

 

———

 

“Mmmuh?” You lift your head up groggily from the surface you’re lying on. When it moves, your head jerks up to see what it is.

“OH, YOU’RE UP! I FIGURED I’D LET YOU SLEEP, I KNOW HOW YOU HUMANS NEED YOUR REST,” Papyrus smiles.

“pff, wish you’d say that about me, bro,” Sans remarks from somewhere in the room.

Papyrus scowls. “YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT YOU DO NOT REQUIRE AS MUCH SLEEP AS THE AVERAGE HUMAN DOES, SO SHUSH.”

You feel your cheeks burn. He’d let you sleep on him? How long he been sitting here (on the living room couch, now that you looked around,) with you practically clinging to his torso like a teddy bear?

You release your clinging hug— you must never have let go in your sleep— and jump back, blushing furiously. You situate yourself next to him on the couch instead. You had actually fallen asleep on someone. That was new. And slightly mortifying. Alright, incredibly mortifying, especially considering the fact that Sans also knew.

“U-um,” you stutter, fidgeting with your hands nervously. “thank you for- for letting me sleep? I guess?”

“oh, it wasn’t easy,” Sans laughs. “he practically had to threaten fell and blue with death to keep them from waking you up.”

“I THINK THE EXACT WORDING I USED WAS ‘IF YOU LAY A PHALANGE ON THIS SLEEPING HUMAN I WILL DISLOCATE YOUR ARMS FROM THEIR SOCKETS AND BEAT YOU WITH THEM’,” Papyrus corrects, “BUT CLOSE ENOUGH.”

“I’m flattered,” you reply semi-sarcastically, trying incredibly hard to stifle a laugh.

“EITHER WAY, THEY LEFT YOU WELL ENOUGH ALONE AFTER THAT!”

“Papyrus,” you laugh, “you’re the best.” You hug him tightly, and he returns the hug without a moment’s hesitation.

“my bro really is the coolest,” Sans agrees. “nothin _**humerus**_ about it.”

You snort good-naturedly at his joke. “Yeah, I agree with you wholeheartedly, wouldn’t want _**tibia**_ drag!”

“DISOWNED. BOTH OF YOU.”

“awww, but she’s being such a _**faye**_ of sunshine!” Sans protests dramatically. 

“OH! SHE’S AWAKE! SO YOU AREN’T GOING GO BEAT ME WITH MY OWN ARMS ANYMORE?” Blue exclaims, entering the living room. “HEY! FELL! SHE’S AWAKE!” He calls up the stairs, and you hear a thundering of footsteps like someone is scrambling to get downstairs as quickly as possible.

“HUMAN-FAYE! HOW DARE YOU FALL ASLEEP IN MY PRESENCE! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH LAZINESS IN MY HOUSE, ESPECIALLY AFTER SUCH A CONFESSION!” Fell yells, sprinting into the room at full speed.

“ahem. i believe this is _my_ ho-”

“EITHER WAY! I TOLERATED YOUR BRIEF ABSENCE FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR TRAINING, BUT I WILL TOLERATE IT NO LONGER!” He announces, hands on hips. “QUALITY BONDING TIME WILL NOW COMMENCE!”

“Fell, wh-aaaa-!?!” You exclaim as he marches over and grabs you up from the couch. You were starting to get tired of people picking you up without your permission. 

“ONWARDS, FAYE!” Blue exclaims at Fell’s side. “TO THE KITCHEN!”

“see ya,” Sans chirps sleepily from the couch as Fell slings you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“HAVE A NICE TIME,” Papyrus calls after you.

When Fell and Blue eventually reach the kitchen, and Fell plops you down in a kitchen chair, you’re fairly certain what’s going on. And you aren’t sure that you like it.

“So,” you ask nervously, “what are we cooking?”

You knew Fell was a good cook, excellent, in fact, but Blue… you just hoped that he would listen to Fell’s advice during this session. 

“WELL,” Blue answers, “NORMALLY I’D MAKE TACOS, OR FELL WOULD MAKE LASAGNA, BUT SINCE ALL THREE OF US ARE WORKING TOGETHER, THAT MAY BE INSUFFICIENT,” he decides.

“WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT RATHER UPSETTING THINGS LATELY,” Fell acknowledges with an upward lilt to his voice. “AND UPSETTING THINGS REQUIRE CAKE. I RECOMMEND CINNAMON.”

“CINNAMON-CHOCOLATE,” Blue decides, planting his hands squarely on his hips in triumph. “IT IS A WIDELY KNOWN FACT THAT MAGE-CHASING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS COWER AT CINNAMON CHOCOLATE CAKE. NO DEBATE.”

“Sounds good!” You respond with a small giggle. It would be true, as long as Fell took the lead in this project. “How do we make it?”

“WELL… WE NEED THE CINNAMON. AND THE CHOCOLATE,” Blue deadpans. “BUT OTHER THAN THAT, JUST NORMAL CAKE INGREDIENTS, I GUESS. MILK, EGGS, FLOUR, THAT SORT OF THING.”

Fell rummages through the pantry as Blue speaks, pulling out ingredients as Blue lists them off. You hop off of your chair to join him in his search, shoulder to shoulder with him as you look for the cinnamon.

When you finally point it out, two inches in front of his face, Fell huffs in frustration and extracts the cinnamon from the cupboard, bringing the spice up to join its fellow ingredients at the top of the counter. He closes the small doors and stands up, and you do as well.

“NOW. I DO NOT WISH FOR A LUMP OF CHARCOAL TO COME OUT OF THE OVEN IN A COUPLE OF HOURS, SO I WOULD MUCH APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD ALLOW ME TO TAKE CHARGE OF THIS PROJECT,” Fell commands, crossing his arms haughtily. You would have been put off by the display if you didn’t know for a fact that he could probably cook better than Gordon Ramsey.

“NO FAIR!” Blue protests. “I HAVEN’T TURNED ANYTHING INTO CHARCOAL IN AT LEAST A WEEK! PAPYRUS- ER, MY PAPYRUS SAYS I’VE MADE REAL IMPROVEMENT! HE DOESN’T EVEN GRIMACE WHEN MY COOKING ENTERS HIS MOUTH ANYMORE!”

“PLEASE,” Fell counters, looking thoroughly unmoved by the display. “THE ONLY REASON HE DID NOT GRIMACE IS BECAUSE HE HAS EATEN YOUR FOOD SO MANY TIMES THAT HIS NONEXISTENT TASTE BUDS HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY SEARED OFF. WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE, CONSIDERING THE MASTERPIECE THAT WE WILL CREATE IF YOU JUST LET ME GET TO WORK,” he snaps.

You whistle. “Wow. Harsh.”

“I- WELL THEN,” Blue stutters, obviously taken aback. You didn’t blame him. That had been quite the smackdown. “I… FINE? I GUESS? BUT I’M IN CHARGE NEXT TIME!!!”

And so the three of you get to work. Fell sets you in charge of mixing, probably the area where you could do the least damage while still being a help to the kitchen, and puts Blue in charge of ingredient appreciation. Apparently that was important, somehow. You detect a small amount of unfairness, Blue was just sitting sullenly in the corner of the kitchen while the both of you cooked.

“Hey, Blue,” you call, and his head perks up at your voice. You offer him a whisk. “Wanna help?”

“WHAT? UM, SURE??” He answers cautiously, as if you’re playing a trick on him. He takes the whisk out of your hand and starts stirring a bowl that you hand him so quickly that you are afraid he may start a small self-contained tornado.

“Slower!” You lunge forward and stop his hands before the batter flies out of the bowl and onto the walls. “Stir… slower,” you warn him, guiding his hands at the proper speed.

“YOU’D BEST NOT RUIN THE BATTER WE WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE,” Fell cautions Blue. You scowl at his tone.

“You don’t have to be so rude, you know. I already helped him.”

“AND _YOU_ DON’T HAVE TO DEFEND ME,” Blue protests, still stirring the batter. “I’M NOT A CHILD.” 

“Well I’m _sorry_ for trying to help you, then,” you respond angrily, and this wasn’t going well at all, was it? You turn your grimace back down to the bowl and focus on thoroughly blending the ingredients. The sound of the whisk clattering against the edges of the bowl is loud due to your aggressive stirring.

The kitchen is quiet for a little while, aside from the general sounds of food preparation. It isn’t until your bowl is finished and Blue is nearly done that the silence is broken.

“WHEN… WHEN YOU ESCAPED…” Blue starts awkwardly, and you startle a little at the questioning, “FROM THE FACILITY, I MEAN, DID YOU- DID YOU HAVE TO… TO HURT ANYONE? I MEAN, I KNOW YOU DIDN’T KILL ANYBODY, I CAN READ THAT MUCH IN YOUR STATS, BUT…” he trails off helplessly. You figure this has probably been bugging him for a while. 

“...yes.”

“O-OH. WELL, I MEAN, THAT’S… THAT’S OKAY, I MEAN, YOU DID WHAT YOU HAD TO, I’M SURE,” Blue replies solemnly, staring down into his batter.

“WHILE A PACIFISTIC VIEWPOINT IS ADMIRABLE,” Fell sniffs, grabbing yours and Blue’s bowls to pour into a baking tray, “SOMETIMES FORCE IS NECESSARY TO ESCAPE AN OTHERWISE DANGEROUS SITUATION. IT DOES NOT MAKE YOU ANY BETTER OR WORSE OF A PERSON. I CAN VOUCH FOR THIS MYSELF.”

You take a moment to appreciate his caring statement. “There was… there was a kid. And they were going to tell someone that I was escaping. So I had to- had to… hurt them.” Your hands are shaking, and you’re suddenly glad that you aren’t handling the food anymore. “I didn’t do it o-on purpose, I can’t really- really control my magic that well anymore, it just kind of explodes out of me. Blue saw it,” you nod towards Blue.

“YES… I DID…” Blue confirms uncomfortably.

“It may be worse that the kid isn’t… isn’t dead, considering what goes on in that facility. I knew them. They were-” your voice chokes up for a second before you continue. “They were a friend.” They wouldn’t have gone to tell someone that you were trying to escape if they had known better, the kid had always been impressionable, and the impressionable didn’t keep their minds long.

Fell places the cake pan gently in the oven the closes the door, setting a timer, before taking off his oven mitts and walking over to place two hands on your shoulders. It almost reminded you of the way Papyrus would comfort you, would reassure you. It made sense, they were the same person.

“LISTEN. I KNOW THIS IS VERY OUT OF CHARACTER COMING FROM ME, BUT IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. THEY MADE THEIR DECISION, AND YOU HAD TO SURVIVE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.”

Tears spring up in the corners of your eyes, and you don’t try to stop them from falling. You close your eyes in the emotional pain of it all, swimming in the darkness it provided.

You feel arms wrap around your middle, but Fell’s hands are still on your shoulders. So that meant…?

“I MAY BE SLOW AT GETTING USED TO THIS,” Blue’s voice admits, and the surprise of hearing him so close to you makes your eyes shoot back open. “BUT I KNOW YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON, FAYE. YOU DID THE BEST YOU COULD, I KNOW IT.” He shoots you a tentative, wavering smile, which you gratefully return.

 

When the cake is done an hour later, it tastes pretty damn good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord for this fic that I reblog a link to frequently on my tumblr! I have unlimited spots, so come on down!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	19. Starry Eyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go stargazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

Your pencil skids on the paper when your bedroom door slams open, leaving the pencil lead broken. You scowl down at your partly-completed drawing before peeking out from behind the translucent blue curtains surrounding your bed that you had drawn up.

“come on loser, we’re goin stargazin’,” Red croons. You scoot towards the edge of your bed, dangling your feet over the edge.

“You messed up my drawing,” you accuse him, eyebrow raised. “Knock next time.”

“yeah, yeah, yeah,” Red nods, “but c’mon!” 

You don’t think you’ve ever seen him look so excited before. His eyes are nearly gleaming with anticipation.

“What makes today special? I didn’t know you liked the stars,” you comment, dropping down onto your carpet with a slight wobble upon impact. You liked the height of your bed, it was like having a bunk bed without the bottom bunk.

“meteor shower,” he replies giddily. “sans an’ orange are comin’ too. tried to convince pup to come, he likes this stuff also, but his brother wouldn’t let him,” He scowls. “i swear, that undersized brat needs to be taught a lesson or two.”

Something in your expression hardens. “You said Pup also likes seeing the stars?”

Red scratches the back of his head confusedly. “uh, yeah. almost looked like, heh, a puppy the first time he got to look at them. his brother insists that the attachment will make them weaker or some shit when they ‘finally go back to their universe’,” he rolls his eyes, air-quoting Black. “honestly, I don’t hold out hope on getting back, and i don’t think i’d particularly want to, anyways.” 

He grimaces, but doesn’t elaborate. You decide not to press the issue. 

You had bigger fish to fry.

“That’s. _It_.” You hiss, pushing past Red and storming out of your room. You’d put up with Black pushing his brother around for long enough. You’d promised Pup that you’d defend him, and you would stab yourself in the neck with a rusty fork before you broke that promise.

When you slam open Black’s bedroom door, so hard it hits the wall and rebounds, you hear a loud crashing sound. As you stand fuming in the doorway, Black’s head peeps up from the floor behind his bed— apparently he’d fallen when you stormed in.

“Pup is _going_ to the meteor shower,” you inform him, leaving no room for debate. When it came to Black pushing you around, you could take it, but you were sick and tired of him hurting his brother.

“YEAH-SOUNDS-GOOD,” He squeaks, and you realize that your hands are sparking with magic. You grimace down at them, shaking them a couple times to watch the sparks fly towards the floor. Seemed he was still scared of your abilities. You wondered if his arm ever healed right.

“I don’t want to hear of you bothering him about his hobbies and passions again.” You turn back towards the hallway, holding the bedroom door with one hand. “You understand?” 

“YEAH-YEAH SURE I’LL-”

But you’d already left the room. You hadn’t meant to let your temper flare up like that, or your magic for that matter, but at least you got your point across. 

 

———

 

“Pup?” You knock on his bedroom door. You hear a soft ‘come in’, so you push the door open with a creak to see him smoking and sitting cross legged on his bed, curtains for once open on his windows. He’s facing the windows, as if he’s trying to see what he can of the meteor shower despite the coverage the forest trees surrounding the house provide.

“oh. hey. thought the others were takin you out to see it,” he asks, nodding towards his window. He transfers his cigarette from his mouth to his hand, blowing a stream of smoke towards the corner of the room opposite you. “sorry ‘bout the smoke. didn’t think you’d be here.” He snuffs the cigarette out and leans back on both hands, giving you a soft smile. “so what brings you to my dark domain?” 

“Justice,” you grin. You grab him by his hoodie, and pull, dragging him out of his room with a laugh. “You’re going stargazing.”

“woah!” He yelps, arms pinwheeling wildly in an attempt to regain balance. You relinquish your hold on his sweater, crossing your arms in triumph. “no, no,” he corrects you, “m’lord said no. i can’t go.”

“I made you a promise, remember? He doesn’t get to bully you anymore. So,” you shrug. “We had a little chat. He so kindly agreed to allow you to accompany us to the meteor shower.” You smile widely at him. “Care to join me?”

He smiles softly back at you, standing up fully. “yeah. yeah, i think i will.”

 

———

 

“no, you won’t get bugs in your hair, don’t be a baby,” Sans rolls his eye lights. 

“if it _**bugs**_ you that much, you could always sit next to me, i brought a blanket. unlike that heathen,” Orange proclaims with a snicker.

You gratefully take his offer, laying down on the red and white checkered blanket set out on the grassy hill the five of you were gathered on. You were far enough from all the lights that you could really see the stars, they almost looked like someone had spilled a salt shaker across the sky.

“You can really see them from here,” you breathe in awe. Despite the fact that only Orange is on the blanket, the others are just as close to you on the grass. It’s nice. “I used to live in a crowded town. Lots of lights. Most nights you could hardly see the stars at all.”

“that sounds awful,” Red says from your other side, next to Sans. “i couldn’t imagine it.” Of course he couldn’t, he’d probably been anticipating the night sky his entire life.

“Humans take the sky for granted, I guess. It’s just one of those things that you don’t think about.” Despite the fact that there’s no reason to really be quiet, you notice that everyone is speaking in hushed, awed tones. You don’t blame them.

“it would have been different if you had lived the way we did,” Pup reasoned from behind you. He was the only one not laying down, instead cross-legged and leaning back, propped up on both hands. 

“I suppose,” you murmur, closing your eyes to listen to the soft night sounds you could faintly hear over your voices. Crickets, and the breeze through the grass… and you hadn’t thought you’d ever get to experience anything like this again when you were held in the facility.

You hear a soft gasp next to you, and open your eyes quickly. “What, what happened?”

“the first meteor went by. more will be coming soon. just look… there,” Orange points near a cluster of stars. 

Soon enough, you see a streak of light flash across the sky, starting from the point Orange indicated. A couple more quickly follow, then even more after that, until it is a steady stream of what you probably would have described as shooting stars when you were younger, but now knew were meteors.

“It’s gorgeous,” you breathe. Your parents had never allowed time to look at this kind of stuff, they were shut-ins, and of course after they gave you up you never had time to see anything like the sight you were seeing now. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“we wanted to,” Sans mumbles from beside you. “trust me. you don’t have to thank us. we just want to make sure you know that you’re safe.”

You look over to see him smiling softly at you, and can’t help but return it in equal volume. It was sweet of them to realize how you must feel in a new living environment after so long living in the labs like you had been.

“I feel safer here more than I ever did before my parents got rid of me,” you assure him. 

“‘sides, you needed a break from all the drama,” Red sympathizes. “so many secrets comin’ out in the open lately, must be hard to process. i hope we helped take some of that off of your shoulders.”

You sigh deeply and heavily, a truly exhausted sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, I suppose you did,” you reply with a quirking smile at the corner of your mouth.

The meteor shower is starting to slow down now, the intervals between the streaks in the sky growing longer and longer, until the meteors are nearly nonexistent.

“how’d you get my brother to let me come here?” Pup asks from behind you, and you wonder to yourself for what was probably the thousandth time why he let his brother push him around instead of living his own life. “m’lord doesn’t listen to anyone.”

“You already know you don’t have to call him that around me.”

“yeah, please don’t, it’s creepy,” says Red.

“yeah, you have no room to talk,” Sans laughs.   
“ ‘ _boss, what’d’ya need_ ’ this and ‘ _boss, how are ya doin’_ ’ that.” He shivers. “downright disturbing.”

“agreed,” Orange chimes in. “you two are all kinds of fucked up.”

Red huffs. “i call my brother that by choice, it’s different. you think i’d let him boss me around if i didn’t want to be?” He shrugs, laying back on his hands. “nah. lets me relax, not make decisions. lets him be in charge, be all ‘responsible’ type like he likes. everyone’s happy.”

“I mean, as long as he’s not making you,” you reason. “Sounds fine to me. But Pup should probably stop.”

“only around you. i’m not gonna be the cause of a temper tantrum,” Pup deadpans.

You smile. “We have a deal, then.”

And you look back up at the stars in silence.

 

———

 

“-cannot believe you let us fall asleep up here, my brother is gonna be so pissed!”

You open your eyes groggily, bringing a hand up to rub the sleepiness out of them, and sit up. The others looked to already be awake, besides Pup. You must have accidentally fallen asleep while stargazing. 

You push yourself up to a stand and walk over to where the three awake skeletons are arguing, Red shouting the loudest about how upset his brother will be.

“i swear, if he gets upset, i’m gonna tell him exactly which coccyx to kick because it sure as hell won’t be mi-”

“-Why are we yelling exactly?” You yawn, placing a hand over your mouth to stifle the action.

Sans runs a tired hand over his face exasperatedly, giving you an exhausted look. “red is upset because we accidentally fell asleep up here and is taking it out on us.” He turns to Red. “look, me, we aren’t a hive mind. just ‘cause i fell asleep doesn’t mean you had to go and do the same.”

“yeah, cause i’m the one responsible for everyone, and not the one who _owns_ this goddamn universe?” Red asks, infuriated.

“owns?? buddy, nobody ‘owns’ a universe. i would have to be be arrogant and entitled to claim that. chill out. i literally just live here.”

“Guys!” You interrupt. “Stop fighting! Lets just go back home, the sooner we get back, the sooner Red can stop worrying. I think you guys have forgotten about Pup, also,” you remind them, gesturing to the sleeping skeleton. “However bad your brother is going to be, Black is going to be ten times worse. I’ll have to deal with that. So can you just stop it?”

Red looks like he wants to say something, but Orange gives him a look with an eyebrow raised, and Red looks towards the ground, defeated. 

“fine. whatever.”

“oh, by the way,” Orange remarks, turning to you, “did anyone ever mention that you tend to use the person nearest to you as a stuffed animal in your sleep, example: me? also you should probably talk to someone about your nightmares. they don’t sound good. peace.” He flashes you peace sign, then shortcuts away, leaving you staring dumbfounded at the spot he just vacated.

“I-um nothing he just said was true?”

“yes it was.”

You whirl around to see Pup awake and smirking at you. You give him a death glare, something that could have melted the bravest of men, and-

“yeah, she cuddled me in her sleep when we stayed at that hotel when the government was raiding our place. she kicks when she has nightmares too, i do not envy orange’s shins right now.”

“Pup I swear to-”

But Pup was gone.

“Pup!!”

You turn to face the two gremlins standing behind you with a glare. They’re doubled over in hysterics, laughing so hard that Red is hardly making any sound at all. 

“You two got anything to say?”

“nope!” Red replies with a gleeful chuckle, vanishing before your eyes.

You turn on Sans. “And you?” If this was going to become embarrass-faye-day, he might as well make it interesting.

“you have bad morning breath,” he grins, shooting you a wink before teleporting away.

 

It is at that moment when you realize that you have no way of getting back to the house, at least until Sans realizes half an hour later that you were stuck on a hill five miles away from the house and comes back to get you.

Goddamn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord server for this fic over on my tumblr!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	20. Obligatory Sick-Fic Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get sick :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Sorry for the double post! I didn't mean to!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“THAT’S IT, JUST FOCUS A LITTLE MORE,” Papyrus coaches, making beckoning hand gestures while you press your hand against a lock of cut hair and the hairs they were cut from. It was the simplest way to get something to ‘heal’ without actually hurting yourself.

You grunt in exertion, sweat dripping from your forehead. A faint green glow shines through your shirt, and you feel and intense warmth in your hands. When you pull them away, the hair you cut is attached again.

You huff, exhausted, slumping against Papyrus, who was wearing what he called his ‘battle body’. 

“NICE JOB!” Papyrus cheers, wrapping his arms around you in a hug. “NOW JUST THREE MORE TIMES BEFORE WE’RE DONE!”

You give him a weary look. “Papyrus, I- woah!” You wobble slightly in your place, vision suddenly going white, then coming back in vibrant and mixed colors that twisted and turned and made you feel nauseous. You out a hand over your stomach, bracing yourself on Papyrus’s chestplate to steady yourself.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU LOOK A LITTLE PALE,” Papyrus comments.

You bring a hand up to your face, rubbing at your eyes to try and clear the sudden fog from your head. “I… I need to go inside.”

You try to take a step and stumble, knees buckling and sparks dancing in your vision, heart pounding in your chest. The nausea comes back full force, and you have to stop and brace yourself to make it manageable.

Papyrus rushes forward to catch you before you fall. “OKAY, NOPE! GOING INSIDE!”

You groan as the ground spins beneath your feet. When you’d woken up today on the hill, you’d felt a little off, but you’d ignored it. Seemed the intense training had exacerbated whatever illness you may have contracted. 

All of a sudden you feel your feet leave the ground, and are quickly hoisted up into Papyrus’s arms. You wrap your arms around him like a koala and close your eyes to stop the world from spinning as your stomach turns. 

You didn’t blame him for the sudden turn in your health, if you hadn’t fallen asleep on that hill there probably wouldn’t have been any ill effects to the demanding magic training other than exhaustion. Exhaustion was growth when it came to magic, it seemed. That explained why someone as energetic as Papyrus was so skilled in it— he had more energy to give, more time to learn before the ultimate crash.

“YOU FEEL VERY WARM,” Papyrus worries as he begins to walk you back to the house, scooping your bottle of water up from the ground to take with him. “WHAT EXACTLY IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

You lift your head up from his scarf. “ ‘m sick,” you lazily mumble, nearly asleep now that you had a convenient way to rest. “Sorry.”

“SICK? WELL, NO WORRIES, FAYE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NURSE YOU BACK TO YOUR FULLEST HEALTH! ...AFTER I GOOGLE HOW EXACTLY TO FIX YOU BECAUSE BROKEN HUMANS ARE NOT EXACTLY MY SPECIALTY, EVEN THOUGH I AM GREAT AT MANY THINGS!”

“Do monsters not get sick or somethin’?” You murmur into his scarf, and if you weren’t so close to where his ears would be, if he had them, you might’ve thought he didn’t hear you. 

He pauses, listening,but then responds with just as much energy as before. “OH, NO. NOT AT ALL, ASIDE FROM IF WE EXPERIENCE A MAGIC IMBALANCE! BUT NOTHING LIKE THE DISEASES YOU HUMANS EXPERIENCE. AND WE DO NOT GET CONTAGIOUS, EITHER. WE MOSTLY JUST LAY IN BED FOR A DAY OR TWO FEELING GENERALLY HORRIBLE UNTIL OUR MAGIC NORMALIZES!”

You glance up and poke his cheekbone. “Lucky….”

“PERHAPS…” He admits slyly. “NOW SLEEP! IF YOU CAN FALL ASLEEP ON ME WHEN YOU ARE IN PERFECT HEALTH, THEN YOU CAN DO SO WHILE SICK AS WELL!”

He certainly had a point there. You close your eyes, fully letting yourself relax into the thick scarf wrapped around his neck. All of his clothing was so soft, and imbued with that ever present cinnamon-citrus smell he carried. You’d come to subconsciously recognize the smell as a sign of safety, comfort, wellbeing.

It meant Papyrus was there, and that meant that you were home.

The warmth of his chest (though he’s said you felt feverish, you’d never felt more chilled in your life, so his body heat was nice) combined with the steady hum of his magic quickly allows you to follow his instructions. Your quieting mind helps to calm your stomach, as well, and soon enough you drift off to sleep.

 

~~

 

_“2981. Again.”_

_You were done correcting them on your name. You knew they never called you by anything except that number aside from when they wanted to manipulate you into doing as you were instructed, or change your mind on a view you held._

_You’d given up._

_“I- I can’t do it again, I don’t even know how I did it in the first place, it just comes naturally, I gu-”_

_“2981. Again.” The voice repeats itself, a little firmer._

_“Don’t you understand? I can’t!”_

_“2981, you will do as you are instructed.”_

_You grimace, gritting your teeth. You’d only spent three months here and you already hated the place. “My name is (y/n).”_

_“Not here, I’m afraid. Now, 2981, are you going to do as instructed, or are you going to need reprimanding?”_

_You finally look towards whoever is speaking, but they’re warped, formless, twisting, faceless. You have a second of lucidity, confusion, they were normal in real life. Just a human._

_~~The lucidity fades again, and you forget you’re even dreaming.~~ _

_You’ve never seen anything like them in your life. Yet you knew they were human._

_The voice gestures towards the clippers laying next to her. Instinctively, your hand shoots up to your head, where three months of progress growing your hair back out was about to be ruined. They’d shaved it off when you’d first arrived, and if you didn’t do as you were told, they’d do it again._

_“2981,” the voice calls out impatiently. “This is your final warning. Remember, you will not be allowed to continue to the simulations if you do not complete your compulsory training.”_

_You’d heard about the simulations. The people who talked about them made them sound nice, at least better than how you lived now. You didn’t know how much longer you could go on like this._

_You turn back towards your target. You close your eyes, try to convince yourself the target was just paper. It was just paper, a set of rings on the wall. It was so easy to just let your magic gather in your soul, flow down your hand… raise your arm…_

_You almost convince yourself that you don’t hear the poor animal’s yelps of pain as your unrefined magic pierces its skin._

 

_Almost._

 

~~

 

“-SO I’M TAKING CARE OF HER UNTIL SHE RECOVERS, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT!”

You shoot up in your bed, clutching your chest as your heart rate soars. Sweat covers nearly every inch of your body, dampening your sheets and making them uncomfortably warm, even though you were freezing. Your stomach churns and roils, and you know you won’t be able to quell it this time.

“OH! YOU WOKE UP! I HAVE PREPARED MANY- WAIT WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”

You don’t have time to speak, clutching your stomach as you drop down from your bed, running to the bathroom that your bedroom housed. You collapse onto your knees in front of the toilet…

You puke up this morning's breakfast. 

You feel a comforting hand on your back, soothingly moving in a circular motion. You shudder, chills creeping up your spine suddenly.

“Th-thank y-you,” you stumble out, not daring to take your face away from its current position, in case you vomited again. “S-sorry for… all of this,” you gesture with one hand. You sigh and flush the contents of your sickness away.

“NO, DO NOT APOLOGIZE. THERE IS NOTHING TO BE SORRY FOR, SUNSHINE.”

Was that… the first time he’d called you by a nickname? It was actually rather adorable. Your face soon feels like it’s on fire, but you dismiss it as a symptom of sickness.

After a couple more minutes, you feel safe enough to leave the bathroom with Papyrus, after thoroughly washing your mouth out in the sink. He rushes downstairs to get you a drink and you sit on the floor by your bunk, unable to get your legs to stop shaking long enough to climb up the ladder. You were just glad you didn’t have a headache, you had enough to deal with without that added in.

You’d had a bad dream, right? You couldn’t quite remember what. You were mildly pleased that you didn’t know what. You were sure it was just a memory that would stir up unpleasant feelings, and you didn’t need that right now. It apparently was enough to finally push you over the edge to vomit-town, so that said something.

“I’M BACK!” Papyrus exclaims. “I BROUGHT YOU GRAPE JUICE, SINCE _BLUE_ DRANK ALL OF THE APPLE JUICE,” He scowls. “I KNOW YOU LIKE APPLE JUICE THE BEST, BUT THIS IS GOOD TOO,” He declares, offering you the cup in his hand.

You take the cup, bringing it up to your mouth to drink greedily from it, and wash the taste out. Grape was a much better flavor than puke. You drink it so quickly that by the time you’re finished, you’re out of breath. You may have forgotten to breathe in the middle of all of that.

“Than- thank you,” you stammer, handing the cup back to him. You still feel woozy, dizzy, even though you’re only sitting down.

“NO PROBLEM AT ALL!” He assures you, bringing a couple fingers to your forehead to brush a couple strands of hair away from your sweaty, clammy face. You were sure that you weren’t exactly a sight to behold right now. “I JUST WISH MY LAZY BROTHER WOULD NOT HAVE LET YOU SLEEP OUTSIDE,” he frowns, continuing to stroke your hair. You turn around so your back is to him, giving him full access to your scalp. Skeletal phalanges did wonders with scalp massages.

“It’s okay,” you yawn. “I had a good time last… last night. Don’t blame Sans- Sans for this.” You pause, a violent shiver overtaking you for a second. “He didn’t know.”

His fingers scrape your scalp, sending nice chills down your back. That reminded you, you should totally start watching ASMR again, now that you had a phone and earbuds that your parents didn’t control.

Before long, your eyes are involuntarily closing again, and though you’re on the ground, you lean back against Papyrus and succumb to the dizziness and wooziness slowly building up within you.

 

~~

 

_This wasn’t real this wasn’t reAl thiswasntrea l this wAsntre althis wasn’t real thiswasntREAL THIS_

_This wasn’t real._

_“(Y/n), it’s time for school!”_

_This wasn’t real._

_“(Y/n)? You need to wake up!”_

_Where was your ring? You never took it off, it should be here, right?_

_“If you aren’t dressed, you’re going in your pajamas!”_

_Your parents gave you up, didn’t they?_

_You hear a door open, and reality shifts._

_You were running, legs pumping beneath you and smacking the ground rhythmically. If you were caught you’d be punished, but you didn’t plan on being caught._

_You had your ring._

_This was real._

_You had your ring._

_You were escaping._

_Then you trip and you’re falling, falling_

_f_  
_a_  
_l_  
_l_  
_i_  
_n_  
_g_  
_._

_It was dark._

_And there were flowers._

_And one of them turns to you, opens its mouth, and says,_

_“FAYE YOU NEED TO WAKE UP. YOU ARE HAVING A NIGHTMARE! WAKE U-”_

 

~~

 

“-P!”

“Agh!” You flinch in Papyrus’s grasp, breath heaving in your chest. All you could remember of your dream was the very end. Where was that? You’d never seen a place like that before in your life. Strange, your dreams normally focused on your memories, not made up fantasy worlds like your childhood dreams used to be.

Surprisingly, you don’t feel nearly as sick anymore, and not nauseous at all. The only remnants of your sickness that you can still feel is a slight chill, but even that is slowly fading, being pushed out by something flowing in. 

Was Papyrus healing you? How long had he been healing you?

“YOU WERE HAVING A NIGHTMARE,” he informs you gently, arms squeezing tightly around your chest. “IT STARTED GETTING PARTICULARLY BAD, SO I WOKE YOU UP.” He pokes your nose and you laugh a little. “YOU NEED TO WORK ON HAVING BETTER DREAMS, MY FRIEND.”

You laugh softly. “I take it you’ve been healing me this whole time? You must be exhausted.”

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER TIRES! COMING TO YOUR ASSISTANCE IS MY PLEASURE, FAYE,” he smiles.

You could tell that he really meant it, it wasn’t just empty words. You feel a rush of emotion in your chest, too much to properly sort through at the moment, but turn to face him.

“Thank you, Papyrus.”

You place a gentle kiss on his cheekbone.

And close your eyes to rest again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord for this fic that I reblog a link to on my tumblr periodically!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	21. Orange You Glad To See Me Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spend time with Orange!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

“MY BROTHER? OH, HE’S IN THE GARAGE! WHAT DO YOU NEED HIM FOR?”

“Nothing much, Blue. Papyrus just suggested I go see what he does, he says it’s pretty cool,” you explain.

“OKAY!” Blue chirps, glancing back at his game. “HAVE A GOOD TIME!”

 

When you push open the garage door and see Orange’s red tennis shoes sticking out from beneath a car, you’re a bit confused to say the least. His feet jerk and twitch slightly as he works, humming softly while you watch from the doorway.

“Orange?” 

You hear a tool clatter to the ground and a soft sound of surprise, then a quiet curse. Orange rolls himself out from under his jeep and sits up against it. 

“oh, hey. wasn’t expecting you in here,” he admits, rubbing the back of his skull. “what did you need?”

You blink a little at the question, before quickly replying, “Nothing in particular, Papyrus told me I should come by! He said the work you do is interesting!”

“really? i just work on my car, that’s all,” Orange shrugs. “sometimes go down to the lab to see if i can take a whack at fixing the machine, but honestly, that thing’s a lost cause.”

Your eyes go wide with curiosity. “Can I watch? I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“i mean, i guess,” Orange responds, surprised, “but it’s not as ‘interesting’ as you’ve heard.”

He grabs a tool from the workbench next to the car, and lays flat on his back, rolling underneath. You get down on your hands and knees to peek underneath and see what he’s doing, and see him working intently. He looks very skilled.

“What exactly are you doing?” You ask suddenly, making Orange startle and drop his tool again. He gives you a stink eye, but quickly drops the look in favor of a fond smile.

“when i got the car, it was an absolute wreck,” he explains, picking up his tool and working again. “i’ve been working on it since i got it. it’s actually nearly road-ready.”

You hop back up to your feet, running your hand along the car’s surface. If it had been as damaged as he said it was, then he must be really good at this stuff. It looked almost like it was new, straight from a dealership.

“So if you could fix this,” you hypothesize, “but not the machine… there’s something entirely different about it? Something advanced?”

“yeah,” he grunts, “thing’s ancient, for starters. old royal scientist designed it, built it too. the one in my universe was barely salvageable the _first_ time it was broken, and i can only imagine the state it’s in currently…” he rolls out from underneath the car, pushing himself up to a stand and wiping his forehead. “anyways, any tinkering i do with sans’s machine is just for funsies. nothing’s gonna come of it,” he shrugs.

As much as you’d love to be the optimist here, you were inclined to agree. The thing was absolutely trashed. Hell, Orange probably took scraps from it to help fix his car. 

“So when’s the car fixed?” You ask excitedly, propping yourself up on your tiptoes. Orange’s smile grows with your blatant show of interest in his hobby.

“i think it’s nearly done, actually. you came at the right time.”

“What do you have to do?” You ask curiously.

Orange props an elbow up on your shoulder, shooting you a wink. “hmmm… why don’t you give it a test run?”

You immediately jump, backing up and waving your hands frantically. “I- uh, no, it’s your car, and um… it’ll be more fun in the passenger seat, and- and I’m-”

“let’s just save some time and have me remind you that i can tell when you’re lying,” Orange interrupts, brow raised with a teasing smile on his face. “c’mon, what’s _really_ wrong?”

You slump in defeat, letting out a long, drawn out sigh. “I… can’t drive. At all.”

“what do you mean you can’t drive?!” Orange exclaims. 

“It’s not exactly like I ever had time to learn!” You defend yourself. “I left for the program when I was barely fifteen, and it’s not exactly a good idea right now to march up to the DMV and sign up for a permit, where I have to use my _government_ papers,” you huff. “I don’t even have my birth certificate or anything, you need all kinds of stuff to get that ID.”

“i guess that would be a reason,” Orange frowns. “fine, i’ll take you out instead. but,” Orange adds, small smile tugging on the corner of his mouth, “i’m gonna teach you how to drive. not now, but later. just. don’t get us pulled over.”

“Hey, you don’t have to do that,” you protest, but Orange holds up a hand to stop you.

“no, if papyrus can train you in magic, then i can train you in driving,” Orange stares. “stars know it’s all i’m good for around here,” he mumbles under his breath.

“I don’t even have anything to drive, it would just be a waste of time,” you argue.

“nah, the garage is pretty big. we could fit three times as many cars in here, and afford ‘em, too. if you can drive, you’re getting a car. no bones about it,” he winks.

You come to a creeping realization. “But… if the garage has plenty of room, and you guys have plenty of money… why doesn’t everyone have a vehicle? I only count six in here.”

“pup and red never got one. you can imagine exactly why. red wasn’t super crushed over it, but can’t you just see pup in a big black truck?” Orange speculates, daydreaming. “perfect fit. anyways. jeep’s mine, blue cycle’s my bro’s. the black cycle is black’s. i guess we really like to match our naming schemes,” he laughs. “moped is sans’s, and the sports car is papyrus’s, though i think you’ve actually ridden in that one before?”

“What about that one?” You ask, pointing to the black muscle car in the corner.

“ah, that one,” Orange replies, rubbing his hands together. “i’ve been itching to get my hands on ‘er, but fell throws a hissy fit if i get within two feet. i could totally improve his engine and gas mileage, but eh, his loss,” he shrugs.

“I don’t see him around now,” you smile slyly, but Orange shuts you down.

“he literally got this universe’s alphys to put a device on it that detects my magical signature and sends a notification to his phone if i get anywhere near,” he deadpans. “not a good idea. the edgelord doesn’t like me much,” he laughs.

You didn’t know who Alphys was, but you didn’t suppose that was important, anyway. You chuckle, “Wow, seems like he’s really dedicated to keep you from meddling with his stuff.”

“yeah, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Orange grins. “but at least he has his peace of mind, i guess.” He glances back at his car, tapping on the hood experimentally. “so. wanna go? i’ll drive this time,” he offers.

You nod your head excitedly. “Yeah! Sounds fun!”

“great!” Orange chirps, pushing his rolling toolbox away from his car. He grabs the handle to the door and opens it, revealing a light gray leather interior. “go ahead.”

“Woah,” you breathe, stooping slightly to step into the passenger seat. “It even has that new car smell.”

Orange makes his way around the other side of the car, opening the garage on his way. 

When he gets in the car and starts the engine, you’re surprised by how smooth it sounds. It practically purrs, a sound you wouldn’t expect from a Jeep that Orange had described as having been ‘trashed’. He must’ve really overhauled this thing.

You click your seatbelt into place and sit patiently as Orange pulls out of the garage and onto the road. If anyone else had fixed up the car, you’d probably be freaking out right now, but somehow you knew you’d be fine.

It’s not long before Orange is going down a major road at 45 miles per hour, every once in a while glancing at you with a giddy grin on his face. You imagine this isn’t exactly how he’d thought his day would go, but that he wasn’t going to complain.

“how’s the ride?”

“It’s great!” You respond immediately. “It’s just… I just realized, this is the first time I’ve been inside a car just for fun since I was fifteen years old. I mean, I went shopping with Papyrus and Blue once, but this is different,” you decide, forcing a laugh. “It’s kind of strange to be in one again now that I think about it.”

You must have been staring out of the passenger side window a little too hard, because soon enough you feel a gentle scratch of phalanges in your hair. You turn your head to see Orange glance at you, then back at the road. 

“it’s one step forward. i’m glad i could be of help,” he tells you in a soft voice. “you’ll be okay. we aren’t going to let them get their slimy hands on you again, especially not after what you just told us. that’s a promise.”

“...Thanks.”

There’s a small pause, before Orange starts up again, taking his hand back from your hair. “wait a second, did you ever get your apologies from black? you guys are on speaking terms and stuff, but did he ever formally apologize for anything?”

“Where is _this_ coming from?”

“eh, i was talking about promises, i believe i also promised to get you those apologies. if you don’t take anything else away from this conversation, take this: i do _not_ break my promises. you won’t catch sans or red doing it either. i’ve never seen pup make a promise to begin with, but i’m willing to bet actual cash that he’s the same way as well.”

“Why’s that?”

Orange shrugs, both hands gripping the steering wheel. “haven’t you noticed? there’s like. the ‘lazy’ skeletons, and the ‘not-lazy’ skeletons. i’m a lazy skeleton.” He glances at you briefly to wiggle his brows at you. “just a byproduct of the alternate universe shenanigans. we’re all just different versions of each other, so it makes sense that there’d be patterns.”

“So… what, you, Sans, Red, and Pup are all so similar because you share a similar personality? Wouldn’t it make more sense for all the Sanses to be the same, or all the Papyruses?”

Orange waves a hand in a dismissal gesture. “no no, don’t get me wrong, the sansi and papyri have a lot in common on their own. sansi can see stats, and are the older sibling. papyri all have some form of what you humans categorized as ‘autism’, and are younger.”

You giggle a little at his use of the words ‘sansi’ and ‘papyri’. “You have autism? Huh, I never would’ve guessed.” It wasn’t a big deal to you, honestly. “It runs in my family, I’m actually on the spectrum, myself.”

“sweet,” Orange grins. “and yeah, i do. ‘s why i went into math and engineering, it just sticks better in my brain. also why i wear the sweater all the time. stimming thing. when i was younger, i alternated between speaking really loudly and frequently, almost like papyrus, or not at all. underground doesn’t really have any official name for it, but my dad had a human psychology book and diagnosed me well enough.”

“Huh.” You prop your head up on the center console, looking up at Orange. “So Pup, Papyrus, and Fell, too, right?”

“sure thing,” he confirms, nodding. He taps his fingers absentmindedly on the steering wheel while you wait at a traffic light. You weren’t actually exactly sure where he was taking you.

“Soooo… where are we going?” 

“surprise,” Orange responds in a dramaticized voice, wiggling a couple fingers at you. “sit back and enjoy the ride.”

You hum in recognition of his statement and lean back against your seat, watching the scenery pass by out the window. It had been so long since you’d seen the view out of a car window. It was strange, you never realized the things you’d miss until you lost them.

You fiddle with your ring while you watch the buildings fly by. This was real, right? These people that you were living with… it wasn’t just some cruel trick, some simulation meant to keep you contained, right? Paranoia was always hard to get rid of. It was like in those movies when people woke up from a dream to discover that they were still in a dream, and would just keep waking up, over and over again. It was hard to trust reality when you finally entered it, even when you had proof.

...The sky was cloudy. That was a good sign, too. Took a lot of rendering time for something as useless as to put a lot of clouds up in the sky for no reason. It wasn’t even raining. In the sims, they either had a reason for the clouds, or a perfectly clear sky.

You’re pulled out of your thoughts by the car stopping. You take one more look at your ring, banishing the paranoia from your mind for longer. You were going to have fun, damnit.

“we’re here!” Orange chirps, opening his door and stepping out. You get out of the car as well, looking up at the building you were parked in front of excitedly. “you really seemed to like this kind of stuff last time we went out in public, so i figures you should see the real deal,” he explains.

In front of you stands an honest to god aquarium! Not a restaurant, like before, but an aquarium! 

Time to have fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just clear something up in case people are getting worried— this is _not_ a simulation. Faye just has a lot of paranoia on the subject.
> 
> I made a discord for this fic, I reblog the link to it periodically on my tumblr!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


	22. Swimming With the Fishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Orange go to an aquarium!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“-have unspecialized cells that can transform into other types and that often migrate between the main cell layers and the mesohyl in the process. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead, most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies-” the tour guide drones on, standing in front of a diagram of a thoroughly average sea sponge 

You and Orange had been standing in front of this sea sponge exhibit for probably an hour already. Not by choice, of course. Your tour guide was incredibly passionate about sea sponges. You didn’t want to offend him.

“-first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the common ancestor of all animals, making them the sister group of all other animals.” The tour guide straightens his glasses. He sounded like an excerpt from a Wikipedia article. You bet if you looked up sea sponges, he’d be word for word. 

“We’re totally gonna ditch this tour, right?” You whisper to Orange.

“i mean, technically we aren’t allowed inside without a tour guide, but at this point i’m willing to break any rule to get away from this,” he agrees.

So when the tour guide looks towards the small tank of sea sponges to describe their etymology, Orange stealthily grabs your hand and shortcuts you away to a secluded area.

“Do you think anyone will notice the two people, one of them a not at all inconspicuous skeleton, disappearing into thin air in the middle of the tour?” 

“pff, nah,” Orange responds. “we were in the back anyways, and everyone was so enthralled with the magic of ~sea sponges~” he wiggles his fingers for effect, “to notice the real actual magic happening behind them. chill, we’re fine.”

You look around your surroundings. You’d be able to get a better look at where you were if there weren’t so many boxes crowding the area. You frown at a stack of boxes, giving it a tentative push to see if you can move it out of your path so you can get back to the exhibits and walk around with Orange. It doesn’t even budge. What was in these things?

You peel open the cover to one of the boxes to see it was full of fish food and textbooks. Were there classes here? If you weren’t a wanted person, and were actually able to apply to government schools, you might actually consider taking a class or two here, since it was so close. You’d always been interested in marine biology. As long as you didn’t have to hear that tour guide drone on about sea sponges again.

“Orange, can you help me move these?”

“already on it, honey,” he confirms, placing his palms flat against the bottom box. With seemingly no effort, he moves the entire stack out of the way. “after you,” He offers.

Giggling mischievously, you practically skip into the main hallway, Orange following closely behind with a contented smile on his face. 

“We are so gonna get in trouble,” you whisper, choking back a laugh at your juvenile wording.

“not if we don’t get caught,” Orange quips, winking.

What was that up ahead? It looked like one of those hallways with the wraparound aquarium walls that went all the way over your head, but you weren’t sure. You’d always wanted to walk through one of those, though! Walking through one of those tunnels would make strolling casually under the belly of a _shark_ possible.

In your excitement, you grab Orange’s hand and rush ahead. “C’mon! There’s one of those cool tunnel thingies! And no one there, the tour must still be behind us!”

“w-woah!” Orange exclaims, abruptly knocked off balance. “careful!”

You stop suddenly, causing him to stumble again to maintain balance. “Oh, sorry. Forgot you were tall enough to knock out a traffic light, and therefore easier to knock down. Now, onwards!” Man, you really felt like a kid hyped up on sugar today.

You reached the entrance of the tunnel, stopping in awe when you realize that, yes, this _is_ one of those aquarium passageways you’ve always heard about. You take a step onto the moving conveyor belt that is the floor of the tunnel, tentatively touching a wall to feel the cool glass, your other hand still connected to Orange.

Fish dart in and out of coral tunnels, schools passing right in front of your face as the moving floor slowly moves you by. You look up above you to see a manta ray swim above your head, and laugh a little in wonder at the sight.

“Wow,” you breathe. It’s really beautiful.

“wow,” Orange echoes you, and you glance at him to see him quickly move his gaze from you and towards a blue and yellow fish a couple feet to your left. Something orange marks his cheeks, but fades away before you even turn back to look at the fish. Was he… blushing? But that wouldn’t make sense, there was nothing worth blushing over here. Your attention is abruptly brought back to the fact that you are still holding Orange’s hand. You let go of it quickly, turning instead towards a group of jellyfish on the opposite wall, sporting a flush of your own.

Before you know it, you’re deposited neatly at the end of the tunnel, and it takes you a couple moments to tear yourself away from the blue tunnel. Well, actually, for _Orange_ to tear you away from the tunnel. By carrying you.

“That was so cool!” You gush as soon as you’re in the next room. “I’ve always wanted to go through one of those!”

“i’m glad you got to,” Orange smiles. “although my brother might be sad he missed out on this, i think we’re having a good time.”

“Yeah, maybe we should get him a keychain or somethi- _oh-my-god-are-those-jellyfish!!!!!_ ” You run over to the tank in excitement, clutching the guard rail and leaning your chin on it as you watch the small blobs undulate rhythmically. Truthfully, to a normal person, this would be quite a boring sight, but to you it was more exciting than Black Friday held in an amusement park filled with fanfiction, and that sounded pretty damn exciting to you.

“ ‘pacific sea nettle’,” Orange reads from a plaque, “ ‘the pacific sea nettle, or west coast sea nettle, is a common free-floating scyphozoan that lives in the eastern pacific ocean from canada to mexico.’”

“Cool,” you breathe, poking the glass playfully. You elicit no response from the tsundere jellyfish.

The jellyfish continue undulating. You continue staring. You don’t think you’ll win this silent duel of fates. You could probably watch them all day, but you supposed that Orange was probably getting tired of them.

You turn to Orange. “All right, you ready to move o- what are you looking at _me_ for?”

The probably-blush is back on his face. “i am not looking at you,” he denies, while looking at you.

“...Whatever, nerd,” you laugh, elbowing him playfully. You start walking away from the tank, admiring the other species of jellyfish that line the walkway but have to be kept separate from each other.

“so, jellyfish, huh?” Orange hums, and you turn slightly to regard him as you keep walking.

“Oh, um, yeah. When I was younger, I um- my mom got stung by a jellyfish while we were at the beach while she was pregnant with my sister,” you explain, twisting your hands. 

You don’t think you’ve told any of them about your siblings before. Or about what happened to them. 

“My sister was fine, but for years afterwards I would pick up this little wooden jellyfish puzzle piece I had and pretend to sting her with it, you know, as a game, and I’ve loved jellyfish ever since,” you laugh a little.

“that sounds really nice,” Orange laughs. 

“...the happy memories are a little difficult to think about because of what my mom ended up doing to me, though,” you murmur.

The quiet this statement brings fills the room with its weight, changing the mood immediately.

“so, what happened to your sister? when you were… you know,” Orange asks solemnly.

You sigh. You didn’t particularly want to tell him, it would just bring the entire mood of this trip down, but you couldn’t lie, either. And honestly, you were sick of keeping secrets. Papyrus has said you needed to heal for the crack in your soul to go away, right?

“The same thing that happened to me,” you admit reluctantly. “Except she- she didn’t make it out- she didn’t get out of her first brain surgery. My brother ended up similarly,” you laugh weakly. “He was only four, Orange.”

Tears well up in the corners of your eyes, and your entire body cringes up in preparation for your crying fit. You feel Orange’s hand wrap around yours, thumb rubbing along the back soothingly.

“i’m never quite sure what to say with these things,” he mumbles, “but i just want you to know that i’m here. all of us are. well, except maybe black. the edgelord is too, even if he might not admit it.”

You sniff, looking up at him. “Thanks.”

He squeezes your hand in comfort. “no problem.”

Orange must have teleported you two closer to the end of the aquarium than you thought, because after you see an octopus exhibit (very interesting, by the way) and even more sea sponges, which you rush by as quickly as you can, you’re already at the gift shop.

You push open the door softly, hearing a little bell jingle. A clerk perks their head up from the checkout desk in the middle of the circular shop, eyeing you two suspiciously. He seemed to be some sort of orange cat monster, and looked thoroughly done with his job.

“What are you two doing here? Tour isn’t scheduled to be finished for another twenty minutes. At this point, they should still be on…” he squints, glancing at his watch. “...sea sponges. That tour guide loves his sea sponges,” he asks frantically. “If my manager finds out you broke from the tour and I didn’t report it, she’s going to yell at me,” he worries, face contorting into an expression unlike any you’ve ever seen before.

“We...uh…” you nervously stutter, trying to think of a lie that won’t get you immediately thrown out.

“look dude, we’re paying customers,” Orange steps in, taking the brunt of the anxiety off of your shoulders. “we’ve already seen the sights, just let us buy our collectible octopus snowglobes and leave.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” the clerk responds with a cartoonishly strained look on his face, kicking his feet up onto the desk and pulling out a cigarette. “As long as you don’t tell my manager I’m smoking on the job.” Under his breath, you hear him mumble, “I don’t get paid enough for this.” He fumbles with his lighter a couple times before finally lighting his cigarette and taking a long drag from it, relaxed expression immediately forming on his face. “At least I’m not working for that square egomaniac anymore,” he sighs.

“Um… okay? I’m just gonna be back here… with the squid keychains,” you reply.

“see anything you like?” Orange asks, flipping through the ‘P’ section in the keychain rack next to yours. “think they carry four keychains that all say ‘papyrus’? or will i have to go with a generic ‘p’ keychain like always?” He jokes, smile on his face. “i swear, my dad must’ve hated me, calling me ‘papyrus’. now i can’t get novelty keychains _anywhere_. course, my brother isn’t much better off,” he shrugs. 

“I promise you that they absolutely do not carry even one keychain under the name ‘Papyrus’,” you deadpan. 

“hmm. mind checking in the ‘s’ section for me, honey?”

You roll your eyes and spin your keychain rack around to find the right letter. 

“Sally, Samuel, Sandy, Seth,” you call out, thumbing through the chains, which seemed to be in alphabetical order. “Nah, no ‘Sans’. Definitely not four.”

“eh, grab four ‘s’ keychains and we’ll call it a day,” Orange huffs. With his own handful of ‘p’ keychains, he turns away from the display and back towards you, holding out a hand for the souvenirs. “go pick out whatever you like,” he offers, taking them from you. “we’re loaded, remember? literally go wild. buy the store. i don’t care.”

Your eyes light up with excitement. You could get anything you wanted? You take a look at the full size of the gift shop for the first time, gaping in amazement. It was circular, and two stories tall, a balcony on the second floor allowing a customer to look down into the first.

So, you do as Orange said. You go wild.

And that’s how you end up leaving the store with a jellyfish plushie half your size, an ocean themed sketchbook, a sea sponge pillow (Papyrus had insisted, and you had no complaints, it was hilarious), a commemorative t-shirt (“I survived the Lake Shore Gallery Aquarium!”, it said. You weren’t sure what exactly you survived, aside from the lecture on sea sponges), and eight keychains.

You don’t think you let go of that plushie for probably two or three days, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	23. Conversing and Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You talk to your housemates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“-wait, _burgerpants_ was working there?” Sans snorts, slapping his leg in laughter. “really? so he finally got the courage to stop working for that metal maniac, huh?”

“I… don’t know what ‘metal maniac’ you’re talking about, Mr. Alliteration,” you smile, “but it seems so?”

“you’ve never heard of mettaton?” He asks quizzically. “super popular monster star? instrumental in form _ **sing**_ bonds between the two races?”

“...Actually, yeah, now that I think about it. I think he was just barely on the rise before I lost contact with the outside world,” you give Sans a knowing look, “and in that time, I never really was able to keep up to date with that stuff. I liked what little I heard of him, though.”

“hah,” Red slouches into the room, flopping onto the couch next to you stomach-first. “ain’t no ‘him’ about it, sweetheart. he’s a ghost, posessin’ a robot,” he scoffs. “ ‘s all autotune. gotta be. you don’t just inhabit a robot body for the use of singing and not make use of the potential autotune features.”

“-he says, like he has experience in the matter,” Sans counters.

Red shrugs. “eh, jus’ speculation. that voice sounds too tinny for my liking anyhow.”

You hear distant crashing sounds from the other room, like many vases and other fragile objects being knocked over and smashed. Then, the unmistakable stomping of boots running across the tile flooring towards the living room, before a horrifically loud skidding noise as the tall skeleton comes to a stop.

“YOU DO NOT LIKE METTATON?!” Papyrus exclaims, dashing into the room, out of breath. “HOW COULD YOU CLAIM TO BE A FELLOW MONSTER WHEN YOU DO NOT EVEN ENJOY OUR ENTERTAINMENT?!”

“was too much of a try-hard in my ‘verse,” Red dismisses Papyrus. “never really liked ‘im.”

Papyrus places two fists on his hips in a scolding motion. “YOUR BROTHER IS A VERY BIG FAN.” You didn’t see why Fell liking Mettaton meant that Red had to, but maybe that was a monster thing? You actually didn’t know much about the culture. Or maybe it was just Papyrus logic.

“well, we aren’t exactly the same person, _cinnabun_ ,” Red drawls sarcastically. “unlike my blue buddy here,” he gestures towards Sans, who waves lazily at his brother, “we’re not alternate versions of each other.”

“HUMPH. WELL, HOW ABOUT I JUST GO UPSTAIRS AND TELL HIM THAT-”

“Guys, is this really important?” You whine, dragging a hand across your face. “Papyrus, as much as I appreciate you, Red is allowed to dislike famous celebrities that you like.”

“I KNOW THAT,” Papyrus huffs. “I WAS JUST MAKING SURE THAT HE WAS GIVING THE SONGBIRD OF THE UNDERGROUND A CHANCE.”

Songbird of the underground? Now _that_ was a fancy title. From what you’d seen of Mettaton, you bet he’d react well to being called that.

“pfff,” Red snorts, sliding face first from his position on the couch towards the floor. “ ‘songbird’ my ass. a u t o t u n e. i’d be tellin’ ya to read my lips if i had em.”

“UNFORTUNATELY YOU DO NOT, OR I WOULD ALREADY HAVE GLUED THEM SHUT! NYEH HEH HEH!”

“i’ll tell you where to shove your ‘nyeh heh heh’” Red grumbles, barely audibly. Seems he’s accepted his position halfway dangling off of the couch, face first. Whatever floats his boat, you suppose. 

“WHAT WAS THAT?” Papyrus asks not-so-innocently, half turned away from the three of you with a brow raised.

“nothing.”

“MHM.”

“Well, that was weird!” You exclaim, throwing your hands up from the couch. “I’m going to my room!”

“BYE, SUNSHINE!”

“Jsjakwjwjsjsjs.”

“did you just. did you just make the actual verbal sound of a keysmash. with your mouth?” Sans asks, dumbfounded. 

“...Maybe?” You respond while inching towards the stairs, desperately trying to avoid your embarrassment.

“you know what? just… just go,” Sans agrees. “probably best, honestly.”

 

———

 

“THE CRETINS SENT ME IN TO TELL YOU THAT DINNER IS READY,” Black huffs, leaning on your glass balcony door. You regard him with a smile, glancing up at him slightly before dogearing and closing your book. It was interesting, something about magic and castles and floating on a cloud. You kind of liked it better where you already lived, though.

“Cretins?” You pick up your mug of hot cocoa from the small table next to you, relishing in the heat melting into your hands, and the steam you can feel against your face when you take a sip. You were probably the only person in the world who didn’t like marshmallows in your hot chocolate— it was a texture thing, you didn’t like how soggy they got.

“YES, CRETINS. AS IN, THE TERM USED TO DERIDE AND OR PUT DOWN OTHERS FOR THEIR INTELLIGENCE. MUST I ADD YOU TO THE LIST?” He folds his arms over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently. You can’t help but frown in annoyance at his tone. He’s taken your meaning completely incorrectly.

“No, no, I know… I know what it _means_ ,” you explain hurriedly, hands gesturing with vigor, “I just- I just don’t think it’s accurate.” You glance down at your mug, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“THEN WHAT, ACCORDING TO YOU, IS MORE ‘ACCURATE’? MORONS? NIMRODS? IDIOTS?” Black raises a speculative brow at you, and you roll your eyes in response. He always made assumptions, didn’t he?

“Hm. Well, for starters, they’re not- they aren’t stupid, I mean. I don’t really know how… how you don’t know that by now…” you fidget with your hands nervously, shivering slightly as a cold breeze passes over your exposed forearms. Maybe it had been a mistake to lounge on your balcony in the middle of September without a sweater. “Half of them work on that machine thingy, I think, and the others are quick witted on their own- their own merits.”

“BUT-”

“You included.”

Black grimaces, eye lights shifting away from you uncomfortably. “LEAVE ME OUT OF YOUR PRAISES, _HUMAN_.”

You hum in acknowledgement. “You don’t...treat your brother very well.”

“AND?”

“You aren’t in your universe anymore, and- and you aren’t going back, most likely,” you tell him. “Don’t you think it’s time you change how you see the world?” Maybe one day you’d actually ask the others what it was like underground for them. You had a fair idea what it was like for Sans and Papyrus, the tales had been sensationalized everywhere, but the others seemed to have developed in a different environment. It might be worth the time it took to ask.

Black bares his teeth at you in indignation. “I DON’T NEED YOU TELLING ME HOW TO RAISE _MY_ BROTHER, _HUMAN_. YOU’D DO WELL TO KEEP YOUR POINTY LITTLE NOSE OUT OF MY PERSONAL BUSINESS.”

“It’s not your personal business when it hurts your brother!” You exclaim, standing up from your seat. You tried your best to be civil with Black, but now you were losing your temper.

“OH, PLEASE. I’M NOT ‘HURTING’ HIM. I’M MAKING SURE HE DOESN’T GET HIMSELF FUCKING KILLED. A PASSION FOR THE STARS OR MUSIC, WILL ONLY BE A GATEWAY TO WEAKNESS. I’VE SEEN LESSER MONSTERS GET DUSTED DUE TO THIS TYPE OF THING.”

“I don’t know _what_ you went through in your Underground, but it doesn’t change the fact that you aren’t _there_ anymore!” You lean forward in an argumentative stance, fists clenched. You don’t know why you even try to reason with him sometimes. “Your brother is hurting, even if he wouldn’t ever admit it.”

Black’s eye sockets go completely dark, before he grits his teeth and turns back towards your bedroom. “I’M LEAVING.”

“Black, wait-” you try to call after him, but he slams the balcony door shut behind him, leaving you in the cold breeze drifting up from the forest.

Maybe it was a mistake to yell. Most people didn’t respond well to being aggressively confronted about their problems, maybe you should have been more gentle? Of course, this _was_ Black you were talking about. He was rude to everyone, he could take a little yelling.

You sigh, picking up your book and entering your bedroom. You set it down on your dresser and go down for dinner. You hope Black or Fell cooked it, otherwise you were probably in for a bad time.

 

———

 

When you get downstairs, you hear a cacophony of voices arguing about something or other, and pause before entering the dining room to chaos.

“THIS IS _NOT_ THE PROPER DINING WARE FOR GUESTS!” Fell huffs. “I SWEAR, YOU BUFFOONS GROW MORE AND MORE STUPID BY THE DAY!”

“well, _sorry_ , edgelord, the fancy plates are _dirty_ thanks to you, mr. every-day-is-a-good-day-to-use-fancy-plates,” Orange shoots back from across the room.

“guys, can we stop arguing? they’ll get here soon, we don’t want to be blowing the roof off when they arrive,” Pup rolls his eyes, placing a plate on the table.

“AGREED! LET’S ALL JUST CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO SOME CALMING MUSIC TO QUELL OUR ANXIETIES!” Blue suggests.

“like what, yoga mom?” Red snarks.

“I DON’T KNOW!!!! SOMETHING!!”

“What is going _on_?!” You exclaim in confusion. All movement stops simultaneously and everyone looks up at you. “We’re having guests? Since when?? Did anyone think to tell me about this?”

“we meant to!” Sans grunts, lifting a giant pot roast onto the table. He must’ve had his life threatened if he was willing to do that of his own free will. “but then we had to start preparing and we lost track of time.”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BLACK? YOU AREN’T HELPING AT ALL,” Blue accuses Black, who sits in the corner on his phone.

Black tilts the phone screen towards him, displaying a cat and a pair of bongos. “BONGO CAT MEME.”

“I SWEAR TO-” Fell starts.

“-no swearing on my christian server,” Sans tuts, dashing back to the kitchen.

“FUCK, ASS, BITCH, DICK, CUNT!” Fell exclaims in rebellion.

“you’re gonna hear from my lawyer,” Red informs him dutifully as he sets out plates.

“YOUR LAWYER WILL BURN IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL.”

“how rude!” Sans exclaims, reentering the room.

“Wait, guys, who’s visiting? Monsters? Humans?” You ask, trying to get the attention of at least one of the busy skeletons.

“AH, MONSTERS!” Papyrus replies, placing a centerpiece neatly on the table and giving it a nice pat. “THEY ARE QUITE NICE, I AM SURE YOU WILL LIKE THEM!”

“as long as they don’t pry much,” Red rolls his eyes. “last thing we need is those two learning about faye’s plight and going on a heroic quest to overthrow the government.”

“THOUGH, THAT WOULD BE VERY NICE OF THEM!” Papyrus exclaims.

“and very attention drawing,” Red points out.

“BUT THAT WOULDN’T MATTER IF THE GOVERNMENT WAS OBLITERATED,” Black critiques, glancing up from his videos to give his insight. “SEEMS LIKE A WIN-WIN TO ME.”

“have to agree with m’lord on this one,” Pup speaks up, confidently speaking due to his agreeance with his brother. “government doesn’t have any right fuckin’ up people’s lives like this. i say we take ‘em out.”

Sans huffs. “we are _not_ going to organize a strike on the government, guys. there are like, nine of us?”

“THAT’S NINE MORE THAN ZERO,” Black points out with a sharp, devious smile on his face.

“we’d get absolutely crushed,” Orange weighs in. “don’t even suggest that winning is a possibility in this situation, you power hungry weirdo.”

“OH, BOOHOO, THE LIVING CARROT CALLED _ME_ A WEIRDO. I’M SO HURT,” Black deadpans.

All of a sudden, you hear the doorbell ring, and everyone in the room freezes. Blue drops a plate, but Papyrus catches it just before it hits the ground and places it on the table. 

“I GUESS THEY ARE HERE ALREADY!” Papyrus exclaims. 

“could have warned us if they were gonna arrive early,” Red huffs exasperatedly.

“HUSH, RED.” Papyrus scurries over to the door, and you sit down on the lowest step, watching to see who the mystery guests would be. It wouldn’t be anyone you knew, of course, you didn’t really know any monsters besides the skeletons, but you were curious.

Papyrus opens the door, grinning widely at the visitors. “HELLO, COME IN! IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” He clasps his hands together in happiness, ushering in two incredibly tall skeletons.

How many skeletons _were_ there exactly?

Were they another set of Sans and Papyrus?

The taller one fidgets with his glasses slightly as your housemates gather around him and what you assume to be his brother, offering their greetings. You stay on your step, too nervous to introduce yourself.

“OH, AND THIS IS FAYE! SHE’S BEEN STAYING WITH US FOR THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS, SHE’S QUITE THE DELITE!”

Papyrus brings the two nearer you, who immediately regard you with a disbelieving, shocked look. What was so wrong with you that they looked at you that way?

“FAYE, THIS IS YELLOW!” He introduces the “shorter” skeleton, though he was even taller than Papyrus. His leather jacket made him look like a motorcyclist, and you found yourself admiring the look. He then turns more towards the taller one. “AND THIS IS GREEN!”

There’s a small awkward silence as you try to muster the courage to respond in kind. Eventually, you extend your hand shakily.

“H-hi, I’m-”

“Y/n?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	24. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get to know your visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

You immediately withdraw your hand with a jerk, shaking. He- he just said??

“H-how do you- do you know my-”

“don’t call her that,” Sans warns, suddenly behind the visitors. They seemed to know you, why did they know you? You certainly didn’t know them! “i’m not even gonna ask how you know her, but her name is _faye _. got it?”__

__“ _That_ doesn’t make much sense,” Yellow comments, eyeing you carefully. “I know her name. I know _her_.”_ _

__Red sighs walking up to Yellow to place a hand on his shoulder. “look, bud, whoever you’re remembering, it’s not _this_ human. gotta remember where you are now.”_ _

__“DID YOU MEET HER IN YOUR UNIVERSE?” Blue asks cautiously. “NONE OF _US_ KNEW HER BEFOREHAND, THAT’S KIND OF WEIRD.”_ _

__“Yes, we knew y/- Faye very well back where we come from. She used to travel with us,” Green comments, twisting his hands nervously. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly and bringing his hands to his sides. “I apologize for any discomfort we may have brought on by referring to you by a name you dislike.”_ _

__“I… appreciate it,” you accept, nodding your thanks. So there _were_ other versions of you. Weird that they had met you before, but your housemates hadn’t. What was the difference between the universes? What was it exactly that caused all these discrepancies?_ _

__“WE. UM? MADE DINNER? THIS IS KIND OF AWKWARD NOW, LET’S JUST SIT DOWN,” Blue offers in a peacemaking tone, ushering the new guests towards the dinner table._ _

__Green brightens a little. “Oh? Dinner? Thank you very much, I am quite hungry.”_ _

__“-Faye’s gotta come too,” Yellow demands, brow furrowed as if in thought. Blue stops mid stride, glancing back at Yellow with a confused look on his face._ _

__“UH, YEAH. THAT WAS THE PLAN?” He laughs nervously. “SHE HAS TO EAT DINNER.”_ _

__Yellow keeps his eyes on you for a couple more seconds before sighing in resignation and turning to the table to join the others. You know he knew another version of you and all, but isn’t he acting a little… you don’t know… strange?_ _

__“come on, faye. pot roast,” Red calls, and you perk your head up from the resting position on your fist. You weren’t particularly excited to be compared to some other version of you, but what Blue has said earlier was correct— you had to eat._ _

__When you get to the table, you see that the only spot left to you is between Yellow and Green, and immediately grow suspicious. Did they do that on purpose? The others wouldn’t let them make you uncomfortable, would they? You didn’t think so._ _

__After a second of deliberation, you pull out your chair, cringing at the scraping sound it makes against the tile. So they had to bring out the extra seating, it seemed. These chairs were kept in storage for a reason._ _

__You sit down quickly after that, stomach growling when you take in the scent of the food in front of you. It looked and smelled delicious, and you couldn’t wait to try it, even if you were surrounded on both sides by people that had made you uncomfortable. From the triumph on Fell’s face, he was the head director of this particular meal, and it showed. You spoon a large blob of mashed potatoes into your plate, mouth watering at the sight. He had really outdone himself this time._ _

__You’re reaching forward to grab a dinner roll when a spicy chicken leg drops onto your plate. You know for a fact that these things are hot enough to melt your brain, and you’re so weak that you can’t even handle hot cheetos, so you look up into the face of the one who has doomed you with a desperate look._ _

__It’s Green._ _

__“I know you rather enjoy spicy foods for some reason, so I took the liberty of saving one for you before that one,” he gestured at Red, whose plate is overfilled with chicken legs, “could take them all!”_ _

__“Nice thinking,” Yellow shadows his brother, leaning an arm on your chair. You shrink back slightly from him, though you don’t think he’s leaning closer to you out of any want to make you uncomfortable. He just seemed like the type to be overly friendly with people he didn’t know. Or rather, people who _reminded_ him of people he knew?_ _

__You poke at the chicken leg in fear. It leaves a ring of orange-red spice in your finger, and you gulp nervously._ _

__“As much as I… would love to eat it… I’m not a big fan of sp-”_ _

__“FAYE DOESN’T LIKE SPICY FOODS!” Papyrus huffs with a chastising tone, and you wonder what’s got him so upset. “IT WOULD DO YOU WELL TO NOT COMPARE HER TO WHOEVER YOU USED TO LIVE WITH.”_ _

__“if anything,” Red grins, wiping sauce from his mouth with the back of his hand, “she’s got a thing for sour shit. i dunno.”_ _

__“You _hate_ sour stuff!” Yellow protests, face scrunched. Where did he get that idea? You’ve eaten sour candy until your tongue bled before!_ _

__“your version of her hates sour foods,” Sans rolls his eyes. “chill out, it’s not that big of a deal. we’re all alternates here.”_ _

__“yeah, honestly, y’should be used to it by now,” Pup shrugs._ _

__Yellow makes a wordless sound of protest before clenching his jaw in frustration and glaring down at his plate, pushing his food around with a dejected expression. You glance at Green, who seems to have quietly taken back the food when you weren’t looking. You’re grateful for his silent taking-back of the food, you wouldn’t have been able to eat it, and you hated waste._ _

__You dump a spoonful of vegetables and pot roast onto your plate and hurriedly shovel them into your mouth as quickly as you can, desperately trying to leave your awkward situation. They’d just been trying to give you something they thought you’d enjoy, you should’ve just accepted it and moved on. It was your fault, like always._ _

__As soon as your plate is clean and your fork scrapes against your plate, you rush to push your chair back and bolt to a stand, picking up your plate as you do._ _

__“I’m-done!” You stumble out, rushing to get out of the room before any voices can begin protesting your departure. You close the dining room door behind you just as a confused voice starts up from the table, sighing in relief and taking a second to lean against the surface. You weren’t sure how to deal with the baggage these new visitors brought with them._ _

__You hurry to bring your plate to the sink, scrubbing at it with a soapy sponge furiously so you can dunk it in the dishwasher. You wanted to wash your hands of the whole ordeal to run up to your room._ _

__“I apologize for my brother’s behavior, y-Faye.” Green’s voice starts up suddenly from behind you, making you startle. The plate slips slightly in your grip and bangs against the side of the metal sink with a clang, but otherwise suffers no ill effects._ _

__You grunt softly in response, shutting off the water and drying your hands on a rag, shaking them out for good measure. It wasn’t that you didn’t forgive him, it was just that you didn’t know if he quite meant it._ _

__“I have- I honestly have no idea who you are,” you state matter-of-factory, placing your plate in the dishwasher and closing it with a click. You lean back against it, crossing your arms._ _

__Green sighs. “I figured as much. As much as my brother would like to believe the contrary, you are not the same person we used to travel with.” He cringes, glances towards the ground with what you can only describe as a sentimental expression gracing his face. Man, what had other-you done to earn _that_ look? It seemed like he really missed her._ _

__“What… what happened to her?”_ _

__Green gives you a grim smile. “Such conversations are most likely not well suited for the present atmosphere, but…” he chuckles softly to himself. “You even both have the same nervous tics, it is truly uncanny.”_ _

__You frown, suddenly on the defensive. “S-sorry for my- for my stutter… I don’t really- really control it,” you explain quickly, annoyed by the way the newfound attention on your speaking patterns was exacerbating the flaw._ _

__Green quirks a brow up. “Do not apologize. It is…” he pauses, eyelights darting around the ceiling as if searching for the right word to complete his sentence. “Charming? Nostalgic.”_ _

__You weren’t sure you particularly liked living in other-you’s shadow, it seemed too… roomy. Shoes too big to fill. You were just you, nothing special._ _

__You hum in recognition of his statement. “Thanks for- for coming to talk to me,” you concede, “it was really nice of you.”_ _

__“Of course, Faye,” Green straightens his glasses slightly, and you giggle a little at noticing they were taped to the side of his head. “I will be attempting to persuade my brother to talk to you as well,” he informs you. “I would not get your hopes up, he can be… stubborn with these things.”_ _

__“Thank you anyway,” you smile. Green nods politely, gaze staying on you for a couple moments longer before he finally turns and leaves the room in silence._ _

__

__———_ _

__

__You’re drawing in the upstairs study adjacent to your bedroom a couple hours later, when the door open slowly, creaking as it does. You see a hand push Yellow into the room, and shut the door quickly behind him. He stumbles, nearly falling flat on his face before catching himself on the bookcase shelf._ _

__“Uh. Hi?” You greet him hesitantly, setting your pencil down next to you. “Did you… need something?”_ _

__Yellow looks up at you like a deer in headlights, backing up a couple steps before hitting the bookcase again and making it shudder. It rocks back and forth, tapping the wall behind it a couple times before it finally settles. At least it didn’t fall, that would really have made this encounter awkward._ _

__“I- my brother sent me in,” he admits. “Well, more like pushed me.” He fishes a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lights it, and you cringe a little at the smell. You figured he wouldn’t react well to you asking him to put it out, so you don’t. Maybe you’d ask next time, everyone else had been very accommodating when it came to not smoking around you._ _

__“Hm.”_ _

__“Look, I’m sorry for how I acted earlier,” Yellow concedes after a moment of thought, and you can tell that he isn’t lying to make you feel better, he means it. “It was stupid of me to treat you the same as- as her.”_ _

__You frown a little at his wording. Self deprecation was your thing, and if you weren’t allowed to do it then neither was he._ _

__“You shouldn’t call yourself that,” you comment, glancing down at your drawing. It had turned out better than you’d expected, seemed that Red had been right way back when when he said that if you picked drawing back up you’d probably gain your skill back fairly quickly._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“Stupid. You shouldn’t call yourself that,” you repeat, closing your sketchbook softly._ _

__“What does it matter? Doesn’t affect you,” Yellow asks gruffly, avoiding eye contact. It had to be weird to be face to face with someone who looked so much like a person you were so close to. You wondered what exactly other-you’s relationship was with them. You didn’t know if you particularly wanted to know._ _

__You stare down at your sketchbook cover in thought for a few moments, fidgeting with your ring and letting the silence weigh down on your shoulders._ _

__“...What- what happened to…” you grimace, preparing yourself to choke out the rest of the words, “the _other_ -me?” Green hadn’t told you, but they always spoke of her in past tense. There had to be a reason, right?_ _

__Yellow’s sockets go dark. “I’m done talking for now,” he states, though it’s with such a casual tone that you can’t help feel the dissonance between his grim facial expression and the way he speaks._ _

__He turns to leave the room, but before his hand can touch the doorknob, you’ve thrown down your sketchbook and stormed over, grabbing his coat._ _

__“She’s me, right? Don’t go!” You plead. “Please tell me.” You glance nervously down at the floor, then back up to where Yellow’s eyelights we’re focusing on you curiously. “It’ll just- It’ll just bother me for weeks if you don’t.”_ _

__And then he hugs you. And you think you know why he misses other-you so much. And you suddenly feel a pit of regret and guilt build up in your stomach. And you know you can never match up to yourself, never fill the shoes she left behind._ _

__He unwraps his arms from around you, leaving you dizzy in the scent of cigarette smoke, which you still disliked, but somehow didn’t seem so bad now._ _

__Yellow shoots you a sad smile, uttering his next sentence so softly you can hardly hear it._ _

__“She died,” He croaks._ _

__And before you can say anything, he places a soft kiss to your scalp, turns, and leaves the room._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	25. Your Driving Lesson!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orange teaches you to drive! And other equally important things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“fuck!! brakes!”

“I’m _pushing_ the brakes!”

“well push them faster or you’re gonna- oof!” Orange is flung forward as you press your whole foot down on the brakes, stopping only when his seatbelt jerks him to a harsh stop. He groans in pain, rubbing his chest where you had no doubt the seatbelt really hurt his ribs.

“Ahhh… sorry.” The car in front of you finally moves, and you press your foot on the accelerator. The car speeds forward for a second before you slam your foot down on the brake in fear.

“gentler! i don’t plan on dying today, though it’s on my bucket list!” Ignoring the completely contradictory nature of that statement, (you can’t have “die” on a bucket list), he continues. “find a steady speed and stick to it.”

“all ‘a this could sound very strange out of context,” Red comments from the back, sweating nervously as he holds onto the support handle in the back for dear life. You scowl slightly, giving him a glare through your rear view mirror, but have to slam on your brakes again when you glance back down at the road. Curse you and your easily distracted self.

“What do you call that handle thingie again?”

“hmm? oh, the ‘oh shit’ bar. ‘o-s’ bar for short,” Red winks. 

“Why’s that?” You ask, glancing away from the road. Immediately, Orange grabs to wheel to right the car from your mistake, and Red’s other hand flies up to grab the handle while the car swerved back and forth.

“oh, shit!”

...

Well, at least you understood now.

“To be fair to Faye,” Green pipes up from the back, having stayed remarkably composed for the whole ride, “If what you say about what happened to her is true, then she is doing quite well for her first time driving. Our y/n learned at the age of sixteen and a half, or so she said.”

“Yeah, I was already gone by then,” you reply sadly, tapping your nails on the steering wheel distractedly. “So she never got taken by the government? Did mages not exist for you?”

“Not...really,” Green admits hesitantly. 

“how’s that figure?” Red asks. “normally, soon as monsters get up here, they start popping up like crazy.”

“We were the only monsters up here,” Green explains. “There was not enough ambient magic in the general atmosphere to allow mages to practice their craft.”

“really?” Orange asks, glancing nervously at the road as you concentrate on your terrible driving. “so not even alternate-faye?”

“Well…” Green hesitates, brow furrowed in thought. “While it is true that she did not have magic when we first met her, she did eventually develop them over time, simply by being in such close proximity to my brother and I every day.” 

He straightens his glasses, drumming his phalanges rhythmically on his head a couple times as he collects his thoughts. 

“Monsters give off residual magical energy into the air, due to the nature of our souls. We produce a very dense amount of magic, so any that does not get used is dispersed into the atmosphere. Humans, by comparison, do not produce nearly as much, or in some cases, any at all. While you may be physically stronger, without us monsters, you are magically defenseless until you have spent enough time around one of us to unlock your soul’s ability to produce its own magical stores,” he explains carefully.

Despite the technical jargon, he actually makes a lot of sense. It at least explained why humans didn’t have magic until the monsters got back up to the surface, anyway. Any mages that had magic stores already developed would have already died by now.

“so th’ humans are leeching offa us?” Red grunts. “might as well do that, too.” You grimace, you hadn’t seen it like that.

“red, you should probably be more aware of your audience when you say things like that,” Orange corrects him, glancing at you nervously. 

“It’s… fine,” you tell him, turning maybe a little too forcefully to the left and throwing everyone to the side slightly.

“don’t lie,” Orange warns. He hums thoughtfully, rubbing the fabric of his sweater repetitively in the silence that follows.

“Either way,” Green says, “It is an innacurate analogy. Leeches take blood from humans which the humans are still actively _using_ , whereas humans do not absorb anything that monsters were not already throwing away.”

“So… now that I _have_ magic,” you propose, “I keep it? Even if theoretically all the monsters were gone, I’d be able to keep producing my own magic now?” You stop the car at a red light, glad for the small rest it provided from the constant stimulus from every direction.

“Correct,” Green affirms. “And with enough determination, you could probably also activate this ability in another dormant mage. I must admit, I do not quite understand why human souls do not _all_ carry the capacity to wield magic, but it seems that way.”

Orange nudges you. “hey. light’s green.” You blink a little in surprise and press the accelerator. You really needed to pay more attention.

“as green as beanpole here’s magic,” Red quips.

“Where are we going, anyway?” You ask for probably the thousandth time. Orange had been feeding you directions, but adamantly refused to tell you the destination.

“we’re nearly there,” Orange tells you. “anyway, i think- oh, a left here by the way- i think it’s actually kinda cool that we benefit off of each other like that.”

“Yes, it is quite the beneficial arrangement. Humans provide physical defense, ideally, and monsters in return provide magical ability.”

“wish the humans knew- hey, pull in here,” he instructs you, and you quickly jerk the car into the parking lot. 

After ten minutes of frustration, you have a very crooked parking job and a strange sense of satisfaction at the idea that you drove all the way here. It was difficult for you to process all the competing stimuli, but it was already getting easier.

When you step out of the car and take a look at the building you parked at, you gawk. It was a cute little parlor, pastel colors decorating every surface, and ‘Starlight Nicecream” written in big loopy letters on top.

“Ice cream? What did I do to deserve ice cream?”

“it’s ‘nicecream’,” Orange informs you. “and, eh, you drove us here, didn’t you?” Orange asks rhetorically. You shrug, following him as he walks up to the front door of the shop and swings it open. A little bell dings, and the four of you pile into the parlor one after another.

“Hi! Welcome to Starlight Nicecream!” A blue bunny greets you from the register, bright, ecstatic grin on his face. Based on the two monster cashiers you’d seen, the irritable cat and now this bunny, you think they’d balance each other out fairly well. You wondered if they knew each other. “How can I help make your day as nice as possible?”

“don’t you run a burger joint?” Orange mumbles to himself, then snaps his fingers in realization. “right. alternates.”

“I’d like to thank you for coming in, it’s getting pretty chilly out, so sales are declining! What can I get for you?” The bunny exclaims. You didn’t know how he could proclaim his declining sales so cheerfully, but everyone to their own, you supposed.

“i’d like a double fudge chocolate nicecream, double the fudge and double the scoops,” Red winks, shooting fingerguns. “though ‘meancream’ would probably rhyme better.”

“But that wouldn’t be as friendly!” The bunny exclaims happily with a giant grin on his face. The emphasis on happiness here was starting to creep you out a little.

“Also, that does not technically rhyme either,” Green informs Red dutifully. “‘Mean’ ends in ‘e-a-n’, whereas ‘cream’ ends in ‘e-a- _m_ ’.”

“yeah, whatever. gimme.” Red scows at being corrected.

“now, now, red, manners,” Orange chastises playfully.

“i’ll tell you where to shove your ‘manners’,” Red grumbles.

“Is it the same place you’re shoving Papyrus’s ‘nyeh heh heh’s?” You ask, feigning innocence. 

“that would be the place, sweetheart,” Red chuckles. “right up my-”

“-I believe that this is not proper etiquette for an nicecream parlor,” Green squeaks, looking fairly embarrassed of the company he was keeping.

“yeah, well, we aren’t exactly proper people,” Red responds gruffly as the bunny gets to making his order. 

Soon enough, Red is handed his nicecream with he immediately begins devouring like a gremlin, getting chocolate all over his face. You honestly think he doesn’t care in the slightest.

“And you, miss?” The bunny asks, ears twitching slightly. You scan the menu board hung up on the wall behind the bunny, going over your choices.

“Oh, um… I’ll-”

“-She’ll get a doubled scoop of cookie dough nicecream. In a waffle cone. With extra sprinkles. And chocolate sauce???” Green interjects quickly, leaving you feel very put off. 

“Um. No?” You correct him, then realize that you probably sounded terribly rude. You correct your tone and continue. “I mean- that wasn’t what I was going to order?”

Green blinks owlishly at you. “You mean you were going to order anything at all without someone making you?” 

“dude, she’s at an _nicecream_ parlor,” Orange laughs. “course she was. what was all that about?”

Green immediately withdraws on himself, eyes downcast and wringing his hands in a nervous motion. “It- It is nothing. Truly. Just… order your frozen dairy products.”

You regard him curiously for a few moments before hesitantly putting in your real order— double scoop cookies and cream in a waffle cone, no extra garnishings required. Orange follows you with the most interesting order yet, a birthday cake nicecream sundae with an overwhelming number of cherries. So many cherries that they covered the ice cream, and even made a large, teetering pile on top.

Orange immediately plucks one off and eats it, ignoring the strange looks he was getting. After he swallows heavily, he gives you a humored look.

“what? we didn’t have these underground. i like ‘em.”

You accept it after he says that, how could you judge him for that, after all, and leave Green to order his mint nicecream and have Orange pay for it all. You take the nicecream back to the car, Orange occupying the driver's seat this time. You didn’t want everyone’s nicecream to spill with your terrible driving.

“so what was the deal in there?” Red asks Green sardonically almost as soon as the car door closes. “you were acting really strange.”

Green hesitates nervously, eating some more of his nicecream to try and avoid conversation. Finally, when he realizes he isn’t escaping this one, he sighs heavily and sets his nicecream aside.

“I was worried about Faye’s eating,” he states nervously, fidgeting with his hands. “I went a little overboard. I apologize.”

“I… forgive you,” you respond in confusion. “But my eating is fine?”

Green sighs, running a hand down his face. “My version of you had an eating disorder under EDNOS. She would not eat for days on end. We helped her to sort of… recover? It seems in my haste I assumed you were the same way. Nevermind the fact that my tactics would be utterly useless if you actually _did_ have an eating disorder.”

Orange scowls from the driver’s seat, making a hard right turn in his frustration. “dude, this assuming that faye is the same as your girl has to stop.”

“I know,” Green responds. “It is just very difficult.”

“It’s okay,” you assure him, eating a large lick of your nicecream. “You were just trying to look out for me, even if it was unneeded.”

“is that what the deal with the chicken leg was?” Red asks with his mouth stuffed full of chocolate nicecream. “that was fuckin’ weird.”

Green scratches the back of his head awkwardly, glancing at the side. “...Yes. I will be informing my brother of this development so another instance like that does not happen again.” That was good, maybe Yellow would chill with his comparison of you to his… girlfriend? The subtext pointed to a relationship, though, honesty, you got that feeling from Green as well. Were they _both_ dating her?

You take a chunk out of your waffle cone while you think. If you hadn’t been sent to that facility, you could easily see yourself ending up the same way as Green’s version of you. Your parents were awful, you didn’t know if it was worse to stay put and deal with their abuse, or be sent to that facility. They were both damaging, just in different ways.

In a way, maybe the structured meal plans each day at the facility saved you from that. Of course, everything else that happened to you there kind of canceled that good out, but it was something. Stars knew you needed something good to come from what happened to you.

“If the government hadn’t forced me to eat,” you murmur, loud enough for everyone to hear you, “I probably would have ended up the same way.”

No one says anything after that. You don’t blame them, what _could_ someone say to respond to that? You finish your nicecream and stare out the passenger side window, spinning your ring around your finger distractedly. You weren’t there anymore. You were fine.

You make the rest of the drive home in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	26. Spoopalicious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get spoopy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“IT’S OCTOBER!!” Papyrus shouts, bursting into your room at 7 a.m. and running up to your bed, where you were now sitting up groggily and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

“Uh… yeah?” Your voice was scratchy with sleep. “So?”

Papyrus develops a shocked look on his face. “SO, IT’S SPOOKY SEASON! SPOOKY, SPOOPY… SPOOPALICIOUS? EITHER WAY, IT’S ALMOST HALLOWEEN!”

Was it really? You hadn’t been keeping track of the dates, but if Papyrus was correct (which he always was), then yesterday, when you had the ice cream, was the last day of September? Wow, time flew by fast in this household.

“That’s… cool? But why did you wake me up to tell me this?”

“BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO START PREPARING YOUR COSTUME, OF COURSE!” Papyrus exclaims, looking slightly offended that you didn’t think of that first.

“Pap… I’m twenty one.”

“NONSENSE! YOU HAVE SIX YEARS OF MISSED HALLOWEENS TO MAKE UP FOR, IF ANYONE YELLS AT YOU FOR TRICK-OR-TREATING I WILL PERSONALLY TELL THEM OFF!”

You push your covers off of your legs, stretching and popping your back and neck. That was better.

“NOW COME ON,” Papyrus urges you, grabbing your arm to pull you down from your bed. You would have face planted off of the ladder if he didn’t catch you, letting you down softly. “GET DRESSED, WE ARE LEAVING IN TWENTY MINUTES!”

And with that, he’s leaves your room. You roll your eyes at the nothing occupying your room, and throw on a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater. It was getting really cold in the area you lived in, might as well bundle up. 

After you’ve hopped down the stairs and met everybody at the door, you all embark on your journey, split up into different cars. You end up with Papyrus, Yellow, Sans, Blue, and Black. The other five take a ride with Fell in his car.

“why are you two coming with us?” Sans asks, referring to Yellow, and by extension, Green. “you aren’t going to be here for halloween.”

Yellow shrugs. “We’re here, might as well spend as much time with the fam’ as we can,” he winks. “That _is_ what humans say, right? ‘Fam’?”

You laugh a little at his attempt to sound cool by using human slang. “Uh, kinda? I guess?”

Yellow grins, leaning against you playfully. “Sweet.”

“PLEASE NEVER EVER SAY THAT AGAIN,” Blue requests desperately from beside Yellow. “LIKE. EVER.”

“Aww, c’mon, Blue!” Yellow pleads. “Gotta be ‘hip’ and ‘lit’ with my fam’, right?”

Black and Blue simultaneously groan in agony at his usage of those words, covering where their ears would be with their hands.

“I DEMAND THAT YOU QUIET YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!” Black yells with a verbal bite. “OR I SWEAR I’LL-”

“sounds pretty swagalicious to me,” Sans shrugs, and you think you actually gag.

“Please. Never. Say ‘swag’. Again,” you groan. 

Sans winks at you teasingly. “swag.”

“THAT IS IT!” Papyrus exclaims with a fake happiness. “I AM THROWING MYSELF OUT OF THIS CAR! RIGHT NOW!” 

“Papyrus, you’re _driving_ ,” you argue, but Papyrus has already begun the process of throwing himself out. Damn this car for having absolutely no top to hamper his actions.

Black reaches over before you can blink and drags him back into the car in one fell swoop. “TRY NOT TO KILL US, WILL YOU?” He screeches.

Papyrus huffs. “IF MY BROTHER UTTERS THAT WORD AGAIN, IT WILL BE ENTIRELY HIS FAULT IF YOU DIE AN UNTIMELY DEATH,” he states firmly.

“c’mon pap, don’t put that kind of pressure on me,” Sans whines. “ ** _swag_** gering out the window is probably the worst thing you could do.”

“Sans, no-” you start, but it’s too late.

Papyrus jumps out his car.

The car starts swerving, but Black hops into the front seat and brings it to a stop, breathing heavily with the adrenaline rush (though you didn’t even know if they had adrenaline. Or needed to breath. Why did they do that, anyway?).

Black cracks open the car door and hops out, stomping furiously behind the car and back about fifteen feet or so to where Papyrus was triumphantly standing, having apparently nailed the landing.

When they make it back to the car, Papyrus seemingly satisfied with having made his point, Black takes over the driving instead.

“BUT IT IS _MY_ CA-” Papyrus protests, but us cut off by Black.

“YOU JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR. I’M NOT SITTING IN THE CAR WITH YOU DRIVING FOR AT LEAST TWO MONTHS,” Black scowls, both hands firmly in the wheel as he restarts the engine. 

“i guess Papyrus got a little… **_car_** ried away?” Sans suggests, earning as snicker from Yellow.

“Sans, for the health and safety of all of us,” you beg, “Please. Stop.”

“just like a stop sign,” Sans sighs dreamily.

Yellow laughs, wiping his eyes. “Sans, as much as I love your jokes— and believe me, I love them— it might _actually_ be best if you stop. Like, now,” he admits.

Sans huffs and leans back until he’s practically laying down in the middle front seat between Black and Papyrus. You didn’t even know cars still had those. It was like the middle console just folded up and made a brand new seat.

Black eventually pulls into the parking lot of the Halloween shop not soon after that, Yellow starting to hoot in excitement. All of you pile out of the car, walking over to where the others were just now parking.

“time to get spooky,” Red grins, hopping out of the car.

When Fell steps out of the passenger seat, you’re more than a little confused. He’s been driving when they left the house, hadn’t he? When you point it out, Red merely shrugs.

“boss jumped out’a the window when i made one too many bad puns. heh, orange wasn’t much help in that department, either. or pup for that matter. green drove the rest ‘a the way.”

“WOWIE, THAT IS VERY COINCIDENTAL!” Papyrus exclaims jovially. “I DID THE EXACT SAME THING!”

“makes sense, they are the same people,” Orange comments from Red’s side. You supposed that was accurate. Still seemed strange that exactly the same course of events happened in each car. And mildly hilarious??

You eventually reach the store entrance, which is over dramatically decorated to seem like the entrance to a haunted house. There’s ambient music playing, cobwebs strung up on the walls, and a sickly green light set up somewhere along the walls.

You’re even sort of spooked as you walk through the small entryway, but nothing happens besides Sans grabbing your shoulder and shouting ‘boo’ like an ass. When you make it through the overblown decorations, you’re left standing in a normal, average, fluorescently lit store like any other. Could it have killed them to keep the illusion up a little longer?

“I HAVEN’T DRESSED UP FOR HALLOWEEN IN…” Blue counts on his fingers, before holding up a closed fist. “EVER! THIS SHOULD BE FUN!”

When you shoot a speculative look at Orange, he explains. “we didn’t have halloween down there. none of us did. ‘s a human thing. and by the time we got up here, we were already adults.” He lifts and drops his shoulders dramatically, sighing. 

“BUT NOW WE HAVE AN EXCUSE, AND THAT’S YOU!” Blue exclaims, playfully punching your shoulder. You rub your stinging arm, wincing. That hurt more than he probably meant it to.

“I’m… glad to be your excuse, then?”

“COME ON, THEN,” Fell grimaces down at you. “BEFORE WE DIE OF OLD AGE. AND THAT WOULD BE AN IMPRESSIVE FEAT FOR YOU TO MANAGE.”

“yeah, boss,” Red pipes up from his brother’s side, “she’d really have to be a _**bone**_ ified genius to last that long.”

Ah, monsters and their magically augmented lifespans. Truly a gift. Though, you’d heard boss monsters could live almost indefinitely, given they didn’t have children. The skeletons weren’t boss monsters, you knew that much.

“OOOH, YOU SHOULD DRESS UP AS THIS, FAYE!” Papyrus calls from two aisles down. You perk your head up over the rows to see where he is, then hurry over to meet him. He grins widely, rocking back and forth on his feet in excitement. “IT IS A SKELETON LADY!” He holds out the bag with the costume in it proudly.

You take it, examining the picture on the front, it looked nice, you admitted. But it was missing something… a little important?

You hear a snort of laughter from over your shoulder, and glance over to see Pup leaning over to peek at the costume. “think she needs some clothes?” He asks jokingly, brow raised. 

It was true, the costume showed the pelvis exposed in its entirety, and while that wouldn’t have bugged you before you met all of the others, now it felt… weird.

“We could get, like… a skirt? And a shirt? But that would kind of negate the point of the costume, hmmm,” you think, tapping your foot.

“what have you dressed as before?” Pup asks in curiosity, browsing the racks next to you.

“Oh, the last year before I got sent away, I was a zombie killer,” you laugh. “I felt so cool, it was awesome. Before that I was a lady Mad Hatter, and before _that_ …” you frown in thought, skimming through the lines of costume bags. “I think I was literally the TARDIS from Doctor Who? But like, as a human? I wore a dress, and a headband with the headlamp on it,” you giggle a little. “One time when I was younger, I was totally obsessed with Greek mythology, and I dressed up as a Greek goddess.”

“sounds like it was a fun holiday,” Pup replies with a sentimental smile on his face. “people weren’t nice enough where i come from to form community holidays like that. it was kind of all…” he struggles to find the right word, fiddling with his headphone cable. “hostile.”

“Why’s that?” You ask, pausing your costume hunt to face him head-on.

Pup hesitates, but before he can answer, Yellow calls you from the other side of the store. This gives Pup the distraction he needs to leave you in the dust, by the time you look back to him, he’s already gone. Probably shortcutted, if the small woosh of displaced air was proof enough.

You stomp your foot, frustrated, before putting what you’re holding back on the racks and going to meet Yellow.

“So, is this not the perfect costume for Papyrus, or what?” Yellow asks, holding out what appears to be a costume of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

“He doesn’t fly, though,” you argue.

“Uh, yes. He does. Watch.” He turns back towards the general store, shouting at the top of his lungs, “HEY! PAPYRUS!”

You hear a small ‘nyeh?’ from four to five aisles down, before Papyrus makes it over to you two in record speed.

“Can you or can you not break the laws of physics in a way that allows you to fly?” Yellow asks, mainly for your benefit.

“OH! ABSOLUTELY!” Papyrus exclaims. Before your eyes, he allows himself to hover three feet off the ground, surpassing even Yellow in height. “SEE? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT, ANYWAY?”

“We may have just found you the perfect costume,” you admit.

“‘THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER’? BUT I DON’T EVEN _LIKE_ SPAGHETTI!”

“W-wHAT do you mean?” You ask incredulously. “You make it all the diddly-darn time!”

Papyrus rolls his eyes, sighing dramatically. “YES, BUT I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY EATEN IT,” he explains impatiently. “WHY WOULD I?”

“I still think the costume fits you,” Yellow brushes his complaints off. “It’s perfect, take it.” He shoves the costume into Papyrus’s arms and runs off before he can give it back. 

“I GUESS THIS IS MY COSTUME, THEN?” Papyrus asks himself. “EH, IT IS FINE, I GUESS.”

“it’s literally perfect, bro,” Sans states, coming up from behind you. 

“And what are you going as?” You ask Sans, who only seemed to be holding a sheet.

“blind ghost. he ain’t got no eyes. ‘cause he’s blind. spooky.”

“SANS, I SWEAR TO THE ANGEL THEMSELF I AM GOING TO-”

“heyyy, you got the same costume as me,” Orange complains, holding up his matching sheet against Sans’s. “no fair.”

“what’s red going as?” Sans asks speculatively.

“blind ghost,” Orange replies nonchalantly.

“and pup?”

“...blind ghost.” Orange scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

“THIS IS GOING TO BE A PARADE OF BLIND GHOSTS, ISN’T IT?” Papyrus asks no one in particular. “THAT IS LITERALLY THE LAZIEST COSTUME I HAVE EVER HEARD OF. YOU DON’T EVEN CUT OUT EYE HOLES!”

“tch. well, _yeah_ , pap. it’s _blind_ ,” Sans replies jokingly, throwing the sheet over his head. “boo. am i scary yet?”

“About as scary as a cute kitten wrapped in tissue paper,” you respond in deadpan.

“awww, you think i’m cute? gee, thanks.”

Before you can form a response to that, Blue and Fell join you three in the aisle.

“-AND THAT’S WHY I’M GONNA BE A KNIGHT!” Blue finishes with vigor.

“AH. INTERESTING,” Fell responds in a tone that clearly suggested that he did _not_ find it interesting. “‘VAMPIRE’ IS STILL THE BETTER COSTUME.”

“YOU ARE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONG, BUT I RESPECT YOUR OPINION,” Blue jokes.

“AT LEAST BLACK HAS A SENSE OF STYLE,” Fell sniffs. “‘WARRIOR’ SOUNDS MUCH COOLER THAN ‘KNIGHT’.”

You wondered what a ‘warrior’ costume even looked like. It was probably pretty good, if Black was willing to wear it.

Blue sees you finally, and run-walks to rest of the way over to you. “WHAT ARE YOU DRESSING UP AS?”

You realize you never picked a costume for yourself. Hmm. In your haste, you pick the first costume bag you see, only realizing after you’re already holding it that it’s probably in bad taste. You didn’t know why anyone even still sold these when the name was used as a slur nowadays.

In your hand you hold a bag with the label of ‘fairy’.

It’s not like you never liked them, you suppose. And it matched your name. You could wear it ironically, though no one outside of your housemates would get the reference.

Oh well.

It would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	27. You Meet Your Doom(fanger)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet Fell’s cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“BYE, WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR NEXT VISIT!” Papyrus tells out of the house as Green and Yellow drive away.

You were sad to see them go, even though they were only here for half a week or so. They were on some eternal road trip around the world, it seemed, and time waited for no man. 

“WELL, THAT WAS FUN,” Blue exclaims, flopping onto the living room couch. “IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I’M ENTIRELY DONE WITH SOCIAL INTERACTION FOR A GOOD LONG WHILE, THANKS!”

“Oh, come on Blue,” you roll your eyes. “They were great!”

“THEY WERE FINE,” he admits. “STILL WOULD HAVE PREFERRED BEING ALONE, PERSONALLY.”

“eh, same,” Red responds, dropping facedown next to him. “don’t get me wrong, yellow is great and all, but there comes a time when guests leave.”

“they were here for _half a week_ ,” Sans protests from the kitchen, flinging the fridge door shut and slouching away with a bottle of ketchup in hand. “that’s hardly overstaying their welcome. if anything, they left too soon.”

“meh, leas’ the couches are free now,” Pup comments, also dropping his full body weight onto a couch. “yellow’s a couch hog.”

“NOW, NOW,” Papyrus chastises from the kitchen, cutting some kind of vegetable up on the chopping board. “WE DO NOT COMPARE OUR FRIENDS TO PIGS OR OTHER SWINE.”

“you’re no fun,” Pup responds, closing his eyes in relaxation.

“NONSENSE!” Papyrus replies exuberantly, brandishing his cutting knife a little too wildly. “I AM TONS OF FUN!”

“a skelet-” Sans starts, but is immediately cut off.

“SANS I DO NOT WANT TO EVEN START HEARING THAT FROM YOU RIGHT NOW,” Papyrus huffs, setting his knife down on the cutting board with a light clack. “EITHER WAY, I AM THE MOST FUN PERSON HERE! THE FUNALICIOUS! THE FUN SUN! THE… FUN-A-PALOOZA?”

“absolutely, bro,” Sans affirms. “you’re the _**fun**_ damental skele _ **fun**_ in this household.”

Papyrus looks caught somewhere between flattered and irritated. The dueling emotions appear to eventually cancel each other out, and Papyrus goes back to his cooking without comment. You pity the lettuce, which gets shredded a little more viciously than before.

Suddenly you hear a loud crashing noise from upstairs, then total silence. You worriedly glance around the room, but no one else seems to notice or care. You supposed that loud crashing noises were somewhat normal here, anyway.

Still, you wanted to go up and check on whatever caused the noise, in case it was important. So amid the downstairs squabbling, you sneak upstairs and start testing bedrooms.

“nah, wasn’t me,” Orange replies, reading a magazine and lounging on his bed. “came from further down the hall, i think.”

So that left two options: Black and Fell.

You are answered quickly when you open Fell’s door and find him practically wrestling with a cat, who was yowling and screeching and attempting futilely to scratch solid bone. It was named ‘Doomfanger’, right? He’d mentioned the name back when you told them all you story, you think.

Eventually, Fell manages to pry the cat off of himself, tossing it gently onto his bed. He turns towards you, scowling.

“WHAT DO YOU NEED?” He asks sharply, his tone partly a product of his cat’s misbehavior, no doubt.

“I came up to- to check on the noise,” you explain, eyeing his cat curiously. Doomfanger was now grooming itself, doing that weird pose cats do when they lick their leg.

Damn, you loved cats.

“WELL, YOU CHECKED. I AM FINE. DID YOU NEED SOMETHING _ELSE_?”

“I’ve never seen your cat!” You exclaim, clasping your hands together in excitement. “Where’ve you been hiding _this_ beauty?”

“SHE STAYS IN MY ROOM, MOSTLY. BLACK DOES NOT LIKE CATS, AND I DO NOT WISH TO ENDANGER HER THAT WAY,” Fell responds, scooping up his lazy cat and giving her a scritch on the head. Doomfanger begins purring almost immediately, a soft rumbling sound that soothes you to your core. You’d had cats since you were little, you hadn’t realized how much you missed them until now.

“Can I hold her?”

Fell looks uncertain. “SHE IS NOT GOOD AROUND STRANGERS.”

“Like you?”

“I AM VERY WELCOMING AND KIND AROUND STRANGERS, YOU HEATHEN!” Fell snaps, making the cat in his arms jump.

You shoot him a skeptical look, but decide to ignore him for the sake of keeping your visit argument-free. “Can I still try?” 

You hold out your arms in asking and Fell hesitates for a few moments before unceremoniously dumping Doomfanger into your arms. She’s really soft, and almost completely white furred with patches of black fur around her feet and ears, and a splotch on the tip of her tail. Her blue eyes are piercing and intelligent, almost as if she can read your thoughts. You wonder how she judged you to be.

You run a hand down the length of the cat’s body attentively, giving her a soft smile. Despite Fell’s previous claims that Doomfanger was skittish around strangers, she nuzzles into your arms further and begins to purr. You’d always had a gift with cats. 

When you were younger you’d often come home from school to find all three of your household cats lounging in your bedroom, waiting for you to come home. And you’d always had a cat on your pillow when you slept, specifically your calico cat. You wondered how she was, and if she missed you. You wondered if cats _could_ miss people.

When you finally look back up at Fell, you catch him for a split second looking down at you with a fond look on his face. He quickly jerks his gaze away when he realizes you’re glancing at him. 

“I GUESS SHE LIKES YOU,” Fell murmurs, reaching out to scratch Doomfanger’s head gently. “STRANGE, I HAVE NEVER SEEN HER ACCLIMATE SO QUICKLY TO ANOTHER PERSON. OF COURSE, SHE’S ONLY EVER REALLY INTERACTED WITH MY BROTHER AND I, SO MY SAMPLE SIZE IS LIMITED.”

You gently turn the cat to face you and use the tips of your finger to check out her collar. The actual collar is black and studded with dulled spikes, but the tag itself is a bone. The name “DOOMFANGER” is written in tall letters, in a font that you’d seen before. You were pretty sure that most people hated that font, didn’t they? What was the name?

Papyrus.

The font. Was Papyrus.

“Oh my god,” you laugh, dropping the tag with a clink. 

“WHAT IS IT NOW?” Fell huffs, feigning impatience.

“The font on the tag, it’s- it’s _Papyrus_.”

“WHAT? THERE IS A FONT NAMED AFTER ME?” Fell exclaims, stupefied. “I MEAN, OF COURSE THERE IS!!!! NO ONE IS AS GREAT AND TERRIBLE AS MYSELF!”

You frown, glancing at the tag again. “It’s a shame graphic artists hate that font.”

“I- UH. WELL.” Fell grimaces, clearly put down from his thoughts of fame and success by that remark.

You grin nervously, trying to cheer up the downcast skeleton. “H-hey, it’s not- it really isn’t so bad! I like the font a lot! Your brother has one too!”

Fell cocks his head to the side curiously. “HE DOES? WHAT A COINCIDENCE!”

“Mhm. Comic Sans. The most hated font of all time,” you nod sagely. “Widely regarded by most as childish and only used when one is attempting to be funny, but never ends up causing any laughter.”

“OOF.” Fell grins cheerfully, or as cheerfully as he could, regarding his general disposition. “IT IS ONLY FITTING.”

“Of course,” you continue, stroking Doomfanger absentmindedly as you sit down on the corner of Fell’s bed to rest your legs, “Most criticisms of the Papyrus font are due to it being used to make things appear more serious or superior than they actually are, and being ultimately annoying in the long run. Maybe you shouldn’t take these judgements point-blank.”

“YOU MEAN YOU _DISAGREE_ WITH THOSE STATEMENTS?”

You sit there for a second, blinking in surprise. “You think they apply to you?”

Fell fidgets uncomfortably with his hands, rocking back and forth on his feet nervously. “NOT… PRECISELY.” When he catches you eyeing him, he scowls at you. “STOP BEING SO NOSY, WILL YOU?!” He finally snaps, stamping his foot.

You frown, setting the cat next to you to allow her to continue cleaning herself. “I don’t think it applies to you at all,” you shrug. “Or any of the others. Yeah, on the surface level, you may _seem_ like nothing but an egotistical maniac-”

“HEY-”

“-but I think you actually really care about people. Like your brother, and your cat.” You smile softly. “I think you’re actually… actually pretty great, without having to do all your over the top stuff. Most of the time, at least.”

Fell smiles nervously, flicking his eye lights to the side. “THANK… YOU?” He’s back to wringing his hands anxiously- a trait you’d noticed was common among the Papyri, Papyrus most of all. It was always weird to see those similarities, since you knew it was because they were literally the same person. It never really seemed that way to you. They were all so different from each other, you couldn’t see them as the exact same person.

“You’re welcome,” you smile. 

Fell hesitates before speaking up again. “FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH, YOU ARE…” He grimaces, trying to think of the right words. “TOLERABLE. MORE THAN TOLERABLE? BEGRUDGINGLY ENJOYABLE TO BE AROUND. THERE.”

You’re left a little confused by the backhanded compliment, but ultimately decide to just take it. It was probably the best you were going to get from Fell at this point. 

“I like being around you too,” you murmur, going back to petting his cat. The fur was so soft.

A soft red blush blooms on his cheekbones, but he turns away, and you aren’t able to gawk at it like you would have.

“THAT IS… NICE TO KNOW,” Fell admits. You hadn’t realized that he had insecurity issues, though in hindsight, that probably should have been obvious. 

“I’m glad I helped you feel better,” you softly tell him. “Sorry for upsetting you in the first place.”

“NO, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT,” Fell cringes. “I WAS BEING OVERSENSITIVE.” Something tells you that his idea of oversensitive was different from yours. You frown in thought.

“You’re allowed to show emotion, Fell,” you argue. “It isn’t good to keep it all locked up like you do.”

“I SUPPOSE THAT IS WHY YOU CRY SO OFTEN?” Fell comments snidely, and you wince at his sudden change in tone. You think you hit a sore spot.

“Partly, yeah,” you admit, standing up with your arms crossed over your chest as if you’re hugging yourself. “But all the same…”

“I CANNOT AFFORD TO SHOW WEAKNESS, EVEN AROUND YOU OR THE OTHERS. IT WILL BE UNDOING IF WE EVER GET THAT WRETCHED MACHINE TO WORK,” Fell huffs.

“I disagree,” you counter, shifting into a firm stance. “I think it makes you stronger. Better able to deal with unpleasant thoughts when they come up. Keeping everything bottled inside you just makes you more prone to explode.”

“HM,” Fell hums experimentally. “I DO NOT KNOW IF YOU ARE CORRECT,” he states, but proceeds to sigh and continue, “BUT I CAN HANDLE MY ‘EMOTIONS’ JUST FINE, THANK YOU.”

You were starting to get fed up with him. He was so intent on ignoring his emotions that he wouldn’t listen to sense. To be fair, you’d done the same thing before. You couldn’t really judge him.

“I don’t think you can,” you huff, tapping your foot a couple times in anger. “I think you yell at people and insult them when the thoughts get to be too much for you.”

Fell’s expression freezes in place, only making small stuttery movements. His eye lights disappear briefly, before a large smile grows on his face and they come back. He fixes you with a cold stare, but you can see that behind it, he’s uncertain.

“GET OUT.”

You really needed to learn to hold your tongue when you were in these guys’ rooms, didn’t you? You sure did get kicked out a lot. Of course, it wasn’t like you disagreed with anything you said previously. You’d become somewhat of an expert in dealing with negative emotions, and sometimes it required telling someone off for being cruel to themselves.

“If you really want me to, then fine. But- but at least… at least think about what I told you, yeah?”

Fell rolls his eye lights, scoffing. “IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME, THEN _FINE_. NOW GO.” He demands, flinging an arm out to point at his bedroom door aggressively.

You pad over to the door, opening it slightly. You look back at him with a small smile on your face. You think, even if he doesn’t make any drastic changes to his behavior, that what you’d said got to him, even if only a little.

“Thanks for talking to me. See you later, I guess.”

The door closes behind you, and all is quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	28. From Out Of The Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spend time with Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

You sit in the computer room with Blue one afternoon, furiously yelling at a computer screen in tandem with him.

“COME ON!” Blue shouts, frustratedly staring at the blank screen. “WORK, YOU PIECE OF-”

“-Uhh, Blue?”

“LIKE, SERIOUSLY, WHO MADE THIS ABSOLUTE PIECE OF GARBAGE COMPUTER?” Blue asks rhetorically, hitting the side of his computer tower in what was professionally called ‘concussive maintenance’.

“I think it was Microsoft?” You answer, though the question had been directed at nobody in particular. “A-anyways, Blue?”

“MICROSOFT CAN SHOVE THEIR LICENSING CLAIMS UP MY… UP MY…” Blue stops, looking puzzled. “DANG, I DON’T EVEN HAVE ONE OF THOSE. WELL, THEY CAN SHOVE THEIR LICENSING CLAIMS SOMEWHERE!!!”

“Blue!” You shout, trying to get his attention. You’re crouched behind his computer tower, giving him a deadpan look.

“WHAT?!”

You lift your hand to him view to show him what you’re holding, and any pretense of calm in Blue’s expression melts away to pure frustration.

“OH, COME ON! IT WASN’T PLUGGED IN? WHO THE HELL UNPLUGGED IT?”

You shrug, plugging the thick computer cable into the wall and slumping onto a beanbag next to Blue’s computer desk. “I dunno, but I’m pretty angry at myself now,” you laugh. “Isn’t that normally the first thing people check?”

“YES,” Blue grumbles. “WHICH IS WHAT MAKES IT SO INFURIATING!”

You laugh, covering your mouth as you do so. “It’ll be alright, Blue. Call of Duty can wait for you to figure out your computer.” 

He jabs the power button to his computer again, scowling as the monitor powers on this time. Plopping down into his chair, he fidgets with his speaker settings, since he was used to playing without company and usually just used his headphones. 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE RED USED MY COMPUTER TO DOWNLOAD THAT GARBAGE,” Blue grimaces, hooking in his controller. You didn’t know why he didn’t just use his keyboard, but everyone to their own, you supposed. “TOOK ME TWO DAYS TO WIPE IT ALL OUT.”

“How’d he get past your password?” You ask, chewing your nails absentmindedly. You knew for yourself that Blue had some of the best passwords you’d ever seen. “You’re borderline genius at them.”

“REALLY? YOU THINK SO?” Blue’s expression brightens fractionally, and his assault on his speaker settings lessens. “WELL, THANK YOU, MWEH HEH HEH! BUT WHILE I MAY BE A GENIUS-”

“- _borderline_ genius-”

“RED HAPPENS TO BE EXCEPTIONAL AT CODE CRACKING, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS A DISADVANTAGE TO HIS FELLOW HOUSEMATES,” Blue huffs, arms crossed. “I SWEAR, HE CAN SIT AROUND ALL DAY UNTIL IT COMES TO MAKING MY LIFE MORE DIFFICULT.”

“Is that why you change your passcodes so much?” You’d seen Blue sit in the computer lounge for hours trying to come up with uncrackable passcodes, but hadn’t had a reason until now. Seemed there was a fierce war in this house that you hadn’t had any idea of.

Blue sighs, leaning back into his chair and picking up his controller. “YEAH, BUT THEY NEVER HOLD FOR LONGER THAN A WEEK. AT THIS POINT, I THINK IT’S MORE OF A GAME FOR HIM THAN ANYTHING ELSE.”

“Speaking of games, you gonna start yours any time soon?” You ask jokingly. Blue snickers, pressing a couple buttons on his controller to bring up the menu.

“YEAH, YEAH, SMART ALECK.”

He clicks into a couple options on his menu, an opening theme music playing. The music wasn’t overly remarkable from what you’d heard from video games before, but at least it wasn’t awful.

“ZOMBIES OR MULTI?” Honestly, you didn’t even know why you were watching him play Call Of Duty. You didn’t even like the game. 

“Zombies?” It sounded interesting, you’d always liked zombie stuff.

“SURE THING!” Blue chirps, selecting the option with the tap of a button. The option glows for a split second before he enters the next menu and immediately begins flying through the options as if he had them memorized. He probably did.

It only takes him a few moments to get his map selected, as well as his weapons loadout. You didn’t even know what half of the words and numbers appearing and disappearing across his screen meant, but Blue apparently did. You were honestly impressed, even if you had been socialized to have a low impression of Call of Duty.

You were never amazing at these types of games. You never got a hang of keeping track of everyone in a map, and tended to panic when one was rushing at you. That wasn’t to say that you never hit anyone, but when you you used to play against your sister she always beat you by a landslide.

Blue starts his match, tapping his femur patiently as he waits for the match to start. You were glad _you_ weren’t the one playing against him. You’d remembered playing Smash with him, and you did not want a repeat experience.

The game begins shortly, and Blue begins moving throughout the map. There aren’t any zombies yet, so Blue moves from window to window until one finally spawn and he can take it down with ridiculously perfect aim.

Before even a couple minutes can pass, he’s unlocked a new area, and a tally appears on the screen, representing a level cleared. If you were playing, you’d probably already be dead by now.

“hey, what’s goin on?” 

Both you and Blue whip around in your seats to see Red leaning against a chair, grinning mischievously. A zombie kills Blue’s character on screen, and he slumps back, groaning.

“COME ON, RED. YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE.”

Red cackles briefly, before stifling it with a hand on his mouth. “maybe,” he proposes, bouncing back up to a full stand. “was fun though.”

“AS FUN AS RIFLING THROUGH MY PERSONAL FILES?” Blue challenges, crossing his arms. You could tell that there was no real animosity in their exchange, just play fighting. It was amusing to watch.

“ah, not quite, blueberry. not quite.”

Blue furrows his brows in frustration. “DON’T CALL ME THAT.”

“what,” Red feigns ignorance. “blueberry?”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT! IT’S STUPID! AND CHILDISH! AND I AM NOT A CHILD!”

“yeah, whatever,” Red waves him off, slumping into a beanbag next to you. 

Blue huffs in exasperation and jabs a button on his keyboard to restart his game, completely tense now. It isn’t long before he’s progressed so far that he should by all rights he absolutely swarmed by zombies, but is instead mowing them down like they were a lawn overdue to be cut.

You didn’t know how he did it. If you didn’t know better, you’d say that he had some kind of mod installed that gave him an unfair advantage, but Blue wasn’t the type to cheat. No, he had pure, raw skill.

He’s up to nearly ten tallies, and a ridiculous stream of zombies following him, when Red finally flings a hand out onto Blue shoulder with a yell of “boo!”

Blue yelps, being pulled out of his intense concentration, and startles so heavily that he loses his edge in the game, and dies again.

“GODDAMN IT, RED!” Blue shouts. “I’D ALMOST BEAT MY RECORD!”

You blink in surprise, taken aback at the furious tone. You don’t think you’d ever heard him so angry before. He’s honestly kind of scary, you can tell that if he wanted to, he could really hurt someone. 

“pfff, yeah, was kinda the point,” Red drawls, leaning back in the beanbag and closing his eyes. “wouldn’t be fun if i let you win first.”

Blue stands up, fists clenched and face frozen in anger. “ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO BE ANNOYING?”

“hell yeah.”

“YOU- YOU KNOW WHAT?” Blue proposes mockingly. He pauses, then spits his next phrase. “ _FUCK_ YOU, RED.”

Red freezes, taken aback. “wow. you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Blue makes a sound from deep in his chest, not quite a growl but something akin to one. You’d seen hints of an anger issue in Blue before, but nothing like this. 

“I’M DONE.” He snarls. Then he turns to you, expression softening. “SORRY, FAYE. IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT THAT RED IS AN ASSHOLE,” he tells you. He storms out of the room after giving Red one more harsh glare, and slams the door behind him.

You hear a small impressed whistling sound come from Red’s direction, and tilt your head toward him. “woooow. never seen little blue explode like that,” he grins. “think i could get papyrus to do the same thing?” He winks. Maybe Blue was right in claiming that he was a bit of an ass.

“Please, don’t,” you plead, sighing and reaching over to turn off Blue’s computer tower. “Thanks for ruining our gaming session,” you sigh, letting sarcasm overtake your tone. “Was starting to get a little too fun.”

“uh.” Red looks actually sorry for a split second. “well, um. heh, uh- didn’t mean to?”

You huff, crossing your arms in a position that allowed you to hug yourself. “It doesn’t matter now. Don’t do it again.”

Red furrows his brow. “i- i guess? would be waay more fun if you just joined in, but I guess you aren’t the type to do that,” he shrugs. “are ya?”

You shake your head with determination. “I am not.”

“so, then, uh… i guess i’ll pick on someone else,” he sighs, rubbing at the back of his skull. “at- at least when you’re around!” He adds quickly at your disbelieving look. 

“Really?”

“yeah, wouldn’t want to ruin _your_ fun in search of my own, heh.”

You smile softly. “Thanks, Red. I need to go talk to Blue now, though.”

“yeah, alright,” he reluctantly concedes. “come hang out with me when you’re done,” he offers with a toothy grin.

You nod in confirmation at him, then leave to go find Blue. After going over the entire house twice, you can definitively say that he isn’t inside. How were you supposed to find him now? Maybe you couldn’t.

You slump down in a corner, opening your phone to text Blue. If you couldn’t find him yourself, maybe he’d tell you where he went. 

**Faye-mous:** Hey where did you go I wanna talk to you

 **Blue-you-away:** AWAY.

 **Faye-mous:** That’s not really helpful you know

 **Blue-you-away:** I KNOW

 **Blue-you-away:** THAT’S THE POINT.

 **Faye-mous:** Yeah yeah you don’t have to go through these theatrics just tell me where you are I wanna hang out longer

 **Faye-mous:** Please

There’s a long pause before Blue’s typing bubble finally shows up again. It disappears, reappears, and then finally, a message is sent.

 **Blue-you-away:** 3247 Janesway Street

Was that where he was? Even if it wasn’t, it was at least _something_. But how would you get there? You didn’t want the others to know that Blue had exploded like he did, and he probably didn’t either, so that ruled out one of the others taking you. You didn’t have a license to drive, either, and you weren’t very good at it anyway.

But it was probably your only way to get there.

It was dumb, it’s not like the situation was life or death, but you really didn’t want to leave your friend after what happened. He was probably beating himself up as you stood there, and that was simply unacceptable.

Where the hell were Orange’s keys?

 

———

 

“YOU. DROVE HERE???”

“Eh, yeah,” you shrug, standing in the propped-open doorway of what was apparently a martial arts dojo. “Only almost got into a car crash twice,” you say in a joking tone, even though it was true. It was a miracle you weren’t pulled over.

“I ONLY TOLD YOU THE ADDRESS BECAUSE I ASSUMED YOU HAD NO WAY TO GET HERE,” Blue huffs. “I AM ENTIRELY HUMILIATED AND WOULD LIKE TO BE LEFT ALONE TO PULVERIZE THESE PUNCHING BAGS, THANKS.”

“Nah.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘NAH’?”

“Nah. I’m not leaving you alone. You can stay here if you want, but I’m not leaving. Sorry.” You weren’t really sorry, but he didn’t need to be alone. Even if he’d avoided _you_ when you’d exploded, you weren’t one to believe in eye-for-an-eye.

Blue half-heartedly flicks the punching bag hanging next to him. It actually moves, despite its weight, which makes you blink a couple times in surprise. 

“...FINE.”

“You’ll let me stay?”

“YEAH. ISN’T LIKE I HAVE ANYWHERE BETTER TO SEND YOU.”

You plop down onto a nearby bench, watching Blue practice his martial arts. You aren’t knowledged enough in the subject to be able to tell which kind he’s practicing, but it’s cool to watch nonetheless. You wonder if he learned it in his universe, or here. It probably didn’t matter.

He really looks like he’s taking his aggression out on that punching bag. You wonder why he’s not hitting the training dummy in the corner, but your confusion is easily taken away when its (what you had thought to be fake) eyes _blink_. Must be a monster.

“WHY DON’T _YOU_ HIT SOMETHING? YOU MUST HAVE A LOT OF PENT-UP RAGE AND AGGRESSION FROM YOUR TRAGIC BACKSTORY.” Blue turns to you, letting the bag swing back and forth a couple of times before he stops it with a hand. “IT HELPS.”

“I...don’t know how,” you hesitate. You’d never physically hit anything before. You had hurt people with your magic, that was true, but you’d probably break a couple bones in your hand if you tried to punch a sandbag in here. You had no concept of the correct way to hit things.

“I’LL TEACH YOU.”

And teach you, he does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	29. They’re Magically Delicious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You learn how to form attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“I THINK IT IS TIME THAT YOU LEARNED HOW TO FORM A SOLID ATTACK,” Papyrus mentions offhand one morning. “YOU HIT VERY HARD WITH YOUR UNFORMED, LOOSE MAGIC, SO IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW AN ACTUAL ATTACK PATTERN WOULD AFFECT YOUR DAMAGE OUTPUT.”

You tilt your head slightly, confused. You thought humans couldn’t make those. You knew monsters could form and launch magical bullets in different shapes at their opponents, but you’d been told that humans simply lacked the finesse to do the same. Although, maybe it wasn’t best to rely on what the government told you about your magic.

“Can humans even… can we even do that?”

“OH, YES! I DO NOT SEE WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO, ANYWAY! FORMING ATTACK PATTERNS IS A BASIC USAGE OF ALL MAGICS, IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO DIFFICULT ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF IT!”

That would actually be pretty cool. You wondered what shape your magic would naturally take on. You’d heard that most monsters could manipulate the shape of their magic attacks if they wanted to. It took much more effort, so it was generally beneficial in battle to keep it the same as it naturally formed.

“Uh, alright then!” You exclaim, clasping your hands together. “Let’s go?”

When you arrive at the field that you normally train at, with a bottle of water and a towel, you notice how nice the temperature is today. At least the cold wouldn’t disrupt your focus like it did most of the time. 

The one drawback of magic in humans was the need to withdraw your soul to use it. Even the most skilled of mages couldn’t keep the culmination of their being locked inside their chest while they worked, it just didn’t work right. Something about magic not conducting properly inside of the human body, and needing to be exposed to the open air. It probably had quite a bit to do with the fact that monsters were made purely of magic, whereas you were solid physical matter. You didn’t think that monsters _could_ even take out their souls.

“YOU CAN SUMMON YOUR SOUL WHEN YOU ARE READY,” Papyrus exclaims from next to you.

You nod, closing your eyes so you can better focus on the soft humming of magic inside of your chest. It was always difficult to get a mental hold on the small heart-shaped soul in your chest, like it was covered in slippery soap and you couldn’t quite grip the edges properly. It was easier than the first time you tried to do this on your own, at least. After a minute or so, you finally get a hold of its form and concentrate on moving it forwards, out of your chest.

It’s still glowing its steady red, the green freckling the surface standing out a little brighter than last time. You think the crack in the middle has closed up a tiny bit, but you aren’t entirely sure. 

“NICE WORK!” Papyrus congratulates you, clapping you on the back. You stumble forward slightly, but catch your balance. “I THINK THIS LESSON MIGHT ACTUALLY COME FAIRLY EASY TO YOU, IT IS THE MOST NATURAL APPLICATION OF MAGIC, AFTER ALL.”

“Shouldn’t it be hard to make my magic into shapes?”

“AT FIRST, YES, BUT WITH TIME IT WILL ACTUALLY BECOME THE SIMPLER WAY TO FORM YOUR MAGIC, SINCE IT REQUIRES LESS ENERGY EXPENDITURE TO MAINTAIN AND WASTES LESS MAGIC. UNFORMED MAGIC EXPELS AN INSANE AMOUNT OF EXCESS INTO THE AIR, SO A SOLID FORM IS A GOOD WAY TO KEEP IT CONTAINED,” Papyrus explains, stepping in front of you.

“Makes sense,” you respond, getting ready to try and coax out the well of bubbling magic inside your soul. It should normally be close to the surface and easy to access, but you had been conditioned into pushing it down until you were ordered to use it. That was something you were trying to break.

“I WAS VERY SMALL WHEN I STARTED FORMING SOLID ATTACKS, SO I CANNOT QUITE REMEMBER WHAT IT IS LIKE TO SUMMON THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME,” Papyrus regretfully admits, “BUT I CAN DEMONSTRATE.”

Papyrus holds out a hand and allows a small bone attack to melt into existence a few inches above his palm. It spins a couple times, likely by his choice, then settles into place.

“I DO NOT _NEED_ MY HAND HERE, BUT IT DOES HELP CONTROL-WISE. ANYONE YOU ASK WILL TELL YOU THAT I MAINTAIN TOP-NOTCH CONTROL OVER MY MAGIC. I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH YOU, SO THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SAY THE SAME.”

It’s a pretty little attack, perfectly formed in stark comparison to your blobby excuse for magic. You generally didn’t think about strategy or form when you attacked. It was more like the magic overtook you and defended you itself, rather than you using it like the tool it was.

You have to resist the urge to reach out and touch his attack, though you know it would cause you damage. “What shape will mine take?”

Papyrus shrugs, allowing his attack to dissipate into thin air. “WHO KNOWS? IT WILL BE WHATEVER YOUR SOUL DEEMS TO BE NATURAL.”

Bones made sense for a skeleton monster, but you couldn’t think of anything off of the top of the head that would fit you. 

“What are some examples?”

Papyrus pauses to think before answering you. “WELL, MY FRIEND UNDYNE CAN SUMMON SPEARS. SHE BOTH WIELDS AND THROWS THEM, SO SHE CAN BE QUITE LETHAL IF SHE WISHES TO BE. WE SKELETONS ALL HAVE BONES, THOUGH. THE KING AND QUEEN HAVE FIRE MAGIC… ALTHOUGH I MUST ADMIT THAT I AM NOT SURE HOW THAT RELATES TO THEIR GOAT-BOSS-MONSTER-Y-NESS.”

You nod, confirming that you understand. “So how do I do this?” You had spent the time during your brief conversation gathering your magic from its hidey-hole and into the general well of magic it should rest in, so you were ready to be instructed.

“HMMM…” Papyrus frowns in thought, hand on chin as he squints his sockets. “GATHER IT IN YOUR PALM. IT IS THE BEST PLACE FOR BEGINNERS TO START, MAGIC IS FAR EASIER TO MANIPULATE IN YOUR HAND.”

You allow the cool rush of magic to flow from the spot where your soul used to be, down through your arm, to pool in your cupped hands. It was like holding water in your hands, except the water didn’t deep through the cracks of your fingers, and was generally easier to hold.

“A-alright?” Already, a bead of sweat forms on your brow and begins its slow trickle down the side of your face. Control wasn’t exactly your strong suit.

“NOW STOP FIGHTING IT.”

“Wh- what?” The magic nearly dissipates as you lose your focus immediately, and you rush to reclaim your grip on the substance. “What do- I mean, what do you mean? I’m not fighting it, it’s just… there.”

Papyrus shakes his head. “STOP FIGHTING IT. MAGIC IS ONLY FORMLESS IF YOU MAKE IT LIKE THAT, EVEN IF SUBCONSCIOUSLY. SO JUST. RELAX,” he coos, placing his hands gently over yours. 

You take a deep breath, and force yourself to unclench the muscles in your cupped hands, to stop the intense, crippling focus on making sure your magic doesn’t disappear. You breath out, and relax, letting your cupped fingers fall open.

Your magic flickers in and out of existence a couple of times before the buzzing cloud of energy slowly morphs into a shape. Just before you are able to tell what shape it will take, it blinks out of existence, and you huff in disappointment.

“YOU DID EXTREMELY WELL!” Papyrus beams at you with the energy of a thousand suns. “I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU!”

“...Proud of me? But I failed. It’s gone,” you reply helplessly, dropping your hands away from his, at your sides. How could he say that you had done well when you hadn’t done anything at all?

“FAILED?” Now it was Papyrus’s turn to sound confused. “ON THE CONTRARY, DEAR HUMAN! YOU MANAGED TO RELAX! THAT IS A BIG STEP FOR YOU! AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU EVEN KEPT A HOLD OF YOUR MAGIC FOR A FEW MOMENTS AFTERWARDS!” Papyrus smiles widely at you. “I CALL THAT A SUCCESS!”

“Rea-Really?” You glance up at him. “I could probably do better.”

Papyrus shrugs half-heartedly. “PERHAPS THEORETICALLY, YES, IN THAT MOMENT YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER. BUT YOU STILL DID GREAT! AND YOU WILL DO EVEN _BETTER_ NEXT TIME!” He exclaims with full certainty. “SO LET’S GET TO WORK!”

You try to form a substantial attack a few more times, each one holding together for a few more seconds before ultimately quivering and falling apart.

Papyrus places a finger on his chin, peering skeptically at your cupped hands. “THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING MISSING. SOMETHING IMPORTANT, LIKE FIRE TO SPAGHETTI. YOU HAVE THE BASICS DOWN, BUT IT SIMPLY WILL NOT HOLD ITS FORM, ALMOST AS IF IT IS MISSING ITS…” He chuckles slightly himself, “SKELETON.”

He lifts his head up to glance at your soul, then back at you will a look of realization. “PERHAPS FULL RELAXATION IS NOT IDEAL FOR YOU.”

You tilt your head to the side, grabbing your towel to dab the sweat running from your forehead. “Huh? Why not?”

“I DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE FACT THAT YOU HUMANS POSSESS DETERMINATION. AND YOU, FAYE,” he adds, eyeing your crimson soul, “HOUSE QUITE A BIT IN ONE TINY BODY.” He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. “EITHER WAY! MONSTERS CANNOT HANDLE DETERMINATION, WE MELT. SO I FORGOT TO TAKE THAT VARIABLE INTO ACCOUNT. I APOLOGIZE.”

“It’s no big- no problem,” you stutter in utter exhaustion. At least you understood the primary steps to forming your attack. “What do I need to do?”

“FEEL DETERMINED.”

You give Papyrus a confused look. How were you supposed to do that? 

“I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO COACH YOU THROUGH THIS PARTICULAR STEP, BUT I AM SURE YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT! JUST DO THE SAME THING AS BEFORE, BUT FEEL… REALLY DETERMINED WHILE DOING IT???”

“That explains exactly nothing,” you deadpan. “But… I’ll try?”

You close your eyes, and take another deep breath, letting it out slowly as you relax and allow the magic pooling in your hands to solidify. Before, you’d simply let go of everything mentally, but that seemed to be what was causing your attacks to destabilize. You weren’t quite sure how to make yourself feel determined, but you knew that you didn’t want to let Papyrus down by messing up again.

And that was motivation enough.

A warm burning feeling starts in your chest, and your soul begins to glow a faint red. It was strange that even though your soul was out of your body, you still felt many sensations from it in your chest. The burning intensifies, but is not painful, and you don’t even notice that your hand is clenched around something solid until Papyrus pats your hand gently to break your concentration.

“YOU CAN STOP NOW,” he smiles. “YOU DID IT!”

“I…” you open your eyes, looking at the object in your hand. Your magic seemed to have taken the form of a single knife. A kris blade, to be precise, the metal-looking-magic bending and twisting down to a point.

You drag it experimentally through the air, and jump back slightly when it lets off star-shaped magical bullets. That was useful.

“SANS IS GOING TO MAKE SO MANY VINE REFERENCES,” Papyrus sighs, dragging a hand down his face. “LESSON 2: IF SANS SAYS ‘LET ME SEE WHAT YOU HAVE’, YOU DO NOT REPLY ‘A KNIFE’. BECAUSE HE WILL ABSOLUTELY TAKE THAT AS INVITATION TO SCREAM ‘NO’ DRAMATICALLY AND CHASE YOU THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE. HE DOES NOT EVEN LIKE TO EXERCISE, BUT HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR A JOKE, I THINK.”

“How do you even know that he’d do that?”

“I COOK, FAYE. WITH KNIVES.”

Poor Papyrus. He’d had to learn how to deal with Sans’s meme references all by himself.

You let the dagger lie flat in your palm, feeling g the weight. You wouldn’t have expected it to feel so substantial, but it feels like a real knife. Your focus isn’t held on keeping it together anymore, but you can still feel a small knot in your chest where your magic was doing its work, feeding the knife a continual stream of energy to keep it corporeal. 

“How do I get rid of this?” 

“WELL, NORMALLY FOR ME, I WOULD JUST LET GO OF MY ATTACK, AND PERHAPS GIVE IT A SMALL SPIN FOR STYLE! BUT… MAYBE THAT WOULD NOT BE VERY SAFE FOR YOU,” Papyrus admits, glancing towards the sharp knife in your hand while sweating nervously. “SO I JUST SAY… TELL IT TO GO AWAY? YOU ARE STILL GIVING IT MAGIC, JUST STOP. IT SHOULD DISSIPATE WHEN ITS POWER SOURCE IS GONE.”

You nod, focusing on undoing the small ball in your chest. _Go away go away go away._

It slowly melts down until you can’t feel a magical grip on the knife anymore. The dagger in your hand melts into an amorphous blob of magic after a couple of moments, before finally fading back into the air.

After a round of hearty congratulations, Papyrus makes you summon it again at least three more times. By the time your training session is done, you’re face down on the ground, about ready to pass out.

Then it’s time to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	30. The Edgiest Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What would have happened if Fell had stayed in his universe? A look into the Underfell universe when no one goes to Undertale.
> 
>  
> 
> **THIS IS NOT CANON TO THE MAIN STORY.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

(Read the chapter notes or you will be VERY confused.)

 

———

 

You don’t even know how long you’ve been here. Five years? Six? Either way, you didn’t see an escape for yourself anytime soon. No one was coming to save you. You would be here forever, wouldn’t you?

“2981.”

You perk your head up from your previous position of staring steadfast at the ground. There wasn’t much in your cell to look at most of the time. You’d learned to deal with it. 

In lieu of your response, the Coat standing in front your cell crosses her arms, speaking again with a firmer tone. “2981. Please stand up and prepare to receive instructions.”

You sigh in resignation and force yourself to your feet, shoulders slumped. If you didn’t listen, they’d punish you. They’d shave your head, or shock you, or reduce your food intake to those disgusting nutrition bars, and nothing else. It was always better to just listen.

“Now. 2981. Please proceed from your cell to the O.R. with an escort. Preparations for your surgery will be completed inside of the room.” The Coat unlocks your cell door, and steps slightly to the side to allow your exit. Even though you know that the opening of the door doesn’t mean freedom, you can’t help the small thrill in your chest when you hesitantly take a step outside of the sterile white cell under the Coat’s watchful eyes.

“What- wh-what are you doing to… what are you- I mean…” you fidget with your hands, briefly touching the only reminder of freedom you still had—your ring. “What surgery will you be performing?”

“2981!” The Coat snaps, grabbing your arm harshly and digging her nails in. “Do not speak unless asked to. Do not ask questions under any circumstances. Walk.”

You hesitate, but continue your trod towards the O.R., where you’d been many times already. You don’t know how the government hasn’t figured out where the source of magic in humans comes from, but you do know that as the years go on, your treatment becomes more harsh. They seem frustrated with the lack of progress.

When you’d first been sent here, it hadn’t been so bad. Not ideal, of course, but nothing like how it was now. You had gotten food, enough to keep you happy, and none of it was drugged. You only received the bare necessities now, if that. Supplement bars were most of your diet.

After a time, you reach the O.R. and are told to lay down on the table, which you do. You lay on the cold metal for me hat feels like an eternity while the Coat types out something on her computer. Eventually, she sighs heavily, closed the lid, and stands. 

“We will be operating on your prefrontal cortex. Do not attempt to leave. Do not reject the medication once it is offered to you. Do not move.”

There’s no point in resisting, they’ll just sedate you, so you lay flat on the table and wait for the medication to be administered. Looks like they’ll have to shave your head again after all. You wish they didn’t, you’d spent a good portion of the last year growing it back out.

They hadn’t treated you like this before the law was passed. You’d been legally considered a pure human back then. Now you were just a subspecies of your former race, at least in the eyes of the government. As soon as that bill passed, you were treated as a lab specimen, although you hadn’t exactly been treated like an individual beforehand either.

At least you were past the part of lab conditioning where they made you kill animals. That had been soul crushing, but it was done. You were in the simulation program now, and although it wasn’t much better, you weren’t hurting anything anymore. Nothing real, at least. The slight cold weight of your ring on your finger reassures you that this really is happening to you, and you aren’t sure if that fact makes this situation better, or worse.

Cuffs are placed around your arms and legs by a group of Coats that enter the room one after another. The scientists, and… someone new?

You’d never seen anyone like him before. He was a monster, obviously, but he was interesting to look at. You wonder if they brought him in to train him to be a Coat, or because he wanted to look around. You’d heard that the monsters were cruel, and evil, so it would make sense that this human experimentation wouldn’t bug him. That was probably it. They would never allow someone made of bones to operate on a sub-species of human. He would have no idea how you worked.

“This is Specimen 2981. It is being conditioned to become a government-sanctioned Mage, under the Mage Force Act passed three years ago. I trust that you understand the importance of this research,” a squat man in round glasses impatiently explains to the monster, who simply nods with his hands clasped behind his back. You don’t know how anyone could keep their composure like that when they were told what he had just been told.

The monster finally opens his mouth to speak. “WHAT IS HER NAME?”

What?

“That is not particularly important,” The Coat that brought you here corrects him. “Its official designation is Specimen 2981.”

“I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HER NAME.”

“It does not have a name. It’s official designation is Specimen 2981.”

“I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT SHE DOES NOT HAVE A NAME,” The monster smiles menacingly at the scientists. He turns his gaze to you. “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

You hesitate, unsure if you are meant to answer or not. When your voice does come out, it’s a jittery mess. 

“2981,” you reply uncertainly, shaking. You weren’t expecting to be asked anything directly.

“As you can see,” the squat man informs him, “we have conditioned 2981 very thoroughly. You will not gain the response you want from it.”

The monster scowls, but stays silent. After a few moments of fiddling with the devices surrounding you, the third Coat in the room tells the monster that they will be moving to the tech room in the back, and to wait for them to return. The room was probably a secret, even to whoever this guest was.

He fiddles with his phone in the corner of the room before fixing it with a glare. There probably wasn’t any service inside the facility. He shoves it into his back pocket, then looks at you.

“YOU WANT OUT OF HERE?”

…

…

What.

The look on your face must have been quite strange, because after a moment he begins to elaborate.

“I MEAN, I AM ONLY IN HERE TO SEE WHAT THESE PEOPLE ARE UP TO, I DO NOT AGREE WITH THEIR OBJECTIVE NOR THEIR MEANS,” He scowls, crossing his arms. “IT WAS JUST MY AMBASSADORIAL DUTY TO CHECK UP ON THIS PLACE. I DO NOT THINK THEY ARE DOING A PARTICULARLY GOOD JOB, TO BE HONEST,” he remarks, checking his phone one more time.

“SO I WILL REPEAT MYSELF. DO YOU WANT OUT OF HERE? YOU HAD BETTER CHOOSE QUICKLY, THEY WILL PROBABLY COME BACK SOON.”

The word comes flying out of your mouth before you can stop it.

“Yes.”

You immediately slam your mouth closed. You were so _stupid_ , this was probably a trap, and he’d go tell the scientists about what you said and it would all get worse and you’d be stuck here forever and-

“FINE, THEN.” The skeleton monster stands up from the walk, walking quickly to where you are laying down, and begins working on undoing the cuffs around your limbs. “I TRUST YOU ARE ADEPT AT MAGIC USAGE?”

You scrunch your face in discomfort at the question. You _had_ been, but then you’d been sent here. You tilt your hand back and forth in a so-so motion.

The monster huffs, but undoes the last cuff and pulls himself up to his full height. “BETTER THAN NOTHING. COME ON, THEN. I EXPECT THAT THERE WILL BE A FIGHT.”

Was this… real? Was this really happening? If so, you had the best luck. 

You follow him obediently, stopping when he cracks open the door to the hall silently and peeks his head outside. After a second or two, he turns back to you.

“IT IS CLEAR,” he informs you. You nod, fists clenched in worry and anxiety. You didn’t think this would work out very well, but you had to try. The skeleton groans in frustration as he pulls you out into the hallway and begins walking with a brisk pace, hand on the back of your neck to keep your head low. “I WISH MY BROTHER WAS HERE INSTEAD OF ME. HE COULD PROBABLY SAVE A LOT MORE PEOPLE WITH HIS ‘SHORTCUTS’,” he mumbles to himself. When he catches your curious look, he hates his teeth at you. “KEEP FOCUSED, HUMAN.”

You flinch at the title. You hadn’t been referred to as human in… a long time. It was almost jarring to be so suddenly called back to your true species, but the name leaves you with almost a fuzzy feeling in your chest. He knew what you _really_ were. It was nice.

“DO YOU HAVE A TRACKER ON YOU?” He asks as you make your way towards the first set of security doors. You haven’t been led past these doors in six years. A spark of excitement lights itself in your chest at the thought of leaving, but you quickly extinguish it. No point in getting your hopes up for something that would be torn away from you shortly.

You nod at his question, pointing at the earring tag the facility had fitted you with.

He inspects it, turning it in his hand. “NO TIME TO REMOVE IT THE NORMAL WAY…” He tuts. “I APOLOGIZE, BUT THIS MAY HURT. A LOT.” He grips the tag with his full hand and rips downward, detaching it from your body, as well as a small chunk of ear. Your ear wouldn’t look very aesthetically pleasing, but you’d didn’t mind somehow. He continues rushing you down the hallway, leaving his hand on your ear to release a steady flow of what you assumed to be healing magic into your ear.

You both reach the security doors, and he turns to you before opening them with his visitors card. 

“BEFORE WE LEAVE, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT WE _MUST_ SAVE? I WOULD SAVE MANY MORE PEOPLE IF I COULD, BUT WE ARE QUITE FRANKLY SHORT ON TIME, AND YOU WERE THE CLOSEST SUBJECT I COULD GRAB.” You hear the distant sound of shouting voices, quick footsteps running towards your position. Seemed that time was up.

You shake your head. Anyone that there may have been at the beginning of your imprisonment was long dead by now.

The monster nods curtly, quickly sliding his card through the reader and shoving the heavy door open with his shoulder. You dart through the opening, and he follows, letting it slam shut behind him. 

You were out.

Well, kind of. You were in the lobby now. You’d never been in here while your were conscious before. Luckily, it is fairly empty, so you and the monster simply duck when passing the receptionist, and rush out of the door.

The sky. You were looking at the sky.

You were breathing fresh air.

You had concrete pavement below your feet. 

The bustle of the city surrounds you.

You don’t even register that you’re crying until the tears have reached your chin and begun to drip down. You were _out_.

Your focus is driven back towards the monster when he peeks behind you with an anxious expression on his face.

“I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO REVEL IN YOUR NEWFOUND FREEDOM, BUT WE SHOULD _REALLY_ BE GOING.” The skeleton glances back down at you, and you can see the way the sunlight accentuates the scars crossing over his eye. You wonder how he got them.

With the lack of response from you, he huffs impatiently and grabs your arm, hauling you over to a black muscle car parked at the side of the road. Must be his.

He opens his drivers side door and climbs inside, beckoning you through the window to get in on the other side.

Shaking, you hesitantly open the door, and sit inside the car. It’s… nice. And leather. 

Without even waiting for you to put on your seatbelt, he shifts gears and hurriedly pulls out of his parking spot, speeding down the road and away from the place you had been held for six years.

You were free.

“MY NAME IS PAPYRUS.”

“Papyrus?”

You think you catch a small smile on his face, but his expression immediately becomes a grim neutral again. He grips the steering wheel tighter. 

“YES. DO NOT WEAR IT OUT.”

“Alright,” you shrug, staring in wonder out of the car window. You were still in your lab scrubs. 

“AND… DO _YOU_ HAVE A NAME?”

Your breath catches. You hadn’t been expecting that question. You don’t know why, it was fairly necessary for communication out here.

Your voice catches when you answer. “2981.”

“NO.” Papyrus hums, tapping the wheel. “COME ON, GIVE ME A BETTER ONE.”

Well, you couldn’t exactly go around using your real name, now could you? You go for a play on words, instead. It would be more comfortable for you anyways.

“Pixie. I’m… Pixie.”

Papyrus smiles, and this time it sticks. While still focused on the road, he offers you a hand.

“NICE TO MEET YOU.”

 

 

 

~~At least, that’s what would have happened if he was in this universe when he was supposed to be.~~

 

~~But nobody came.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	31. Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)
> 
>  
> 
> I’m so sorry for this.

“yeah, then i just drop this note in here, and… the chord is complete,” Pup demonstrates, moving the cursor back to the beginning of the song on his laptop. “it’s pretty simple, really.”

You stare at the monitor like he’d just spoken greek to you. 

“Uh…”

“you don’t get it, do you?” Pup questions you sardonically, a trace of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “here, i’ll show you again.”

He goes through the entire process again, and while you still don’t fully understand the concept he’s trying to convey, you appreciate his willingness to help.

“get it now?”

You give him a wavering smile, your eyes filled with uncertainty.

“...Yes?” 

Pup sighs, closing his laptop. “you don’t,” he laughs, patting you on the head like you would a small child. “it’s alright. i’ve gotta have _some_ talent of my own, yeah?”

“I guess,” you shrug. You preferred to just enjoy your music without worrying about the technicalities of creating it, but Pup seemed to enjoy the process. He actually made some pretty good stuff, to be honest. You slump against the headboard of his bed. “You ever planning on selling this stuff?”

Pup glances at you with a nervous expression, seeming taken aback by your question. “well, i mean… first off, i don’t think anyone would buy this crap,” he gestures to his laptop, “and i don’t really need the money anyway.”

“Would be cool though, right? To have a lot of people listen to your music? And don’t get me wrong, they _would_ listen to it.”

Pup scratches the back of his head nervously, standing up to put his laptop away. It was probably the only thing in his mess of a room that he actually took care of. “i don’t know. still don’t really wanna sell it.” His attention is suddenly diverted from you by a ding from his phone, which he drags out of his left side hoodie pocket.

He laughs, immediately typing out a response to whatever he’d been sent, and places the phone back into his pocket.

“What was it?” You ask curiously, sitting up in your spot.

“oh, nothing really,” Pup waves you off, still chuckling a little. “just the meme chat. sans is the meme master, and _that_ is a skill i envy.”

“You guys have a meme chat?”

“heh, yeah, it’s me, sans, red, and orange. though papyrus has been petitioning to join. the rest honestly couldn’t care less.”

“Can I join in?” You hadn’t flexed your meme muscles since before you were taken into the facility, and you’d need refreshing on what was current, but you loved you a good meme.

Pup shrugs. “yeah, don’t see why not. only reason we’re still deliberating on papyrus is cuz he has some really strange ideas on memes, and the world just isn’t ready for his genius,” he jokes.

That sure sounded like Papyrus. You’d have to ask to see some of his creations sometime, you bet they’d earn a laugh. 

You hear a voice from downstairs, and Pup’s head swivels towards it in sync with yours. What was that?

“-ANS I SWEAR TO GOD THERE IS NO REASON THAT I CANNOT JOIN YOUR SECRET SPECIAL JOKE GROUP.”

You can hear his voice from all the way up here, which isn’t actually all that strange for Papyrus. What _is_ strange, however, is the genuine hurt you can hear in his voice. Normally when he yelled at his brother, it was playful tormenting, but you can tell that he’s actually upset.

“Wanna see what’s going on?” You turn to Pup, grabbing his arm to get his attention. His jacket was pretty soft. You hadn’t noticed before, but was it the same jacket as Red’s, only bigger? That was actually kind of funny, you wonder if they’d ever noticed before.

“as much as i’d like to sit here on my nonexistent ass and do absolutely nothing, we probably should,” Pup sighs. 

You playfully pull his hood up to his head and stand up as he scowls and pulls it back down. You hated when people did that to you without any warning, but you could see why they did it. It was kind of an adorable sight.

Before he can retaliate with your own hoodie, you dart out of his bedroom door and down the hall, making a beeline for the stairs. Pup follows suit, and pretty soon you’re face to face with Papyrus and Sans.

“oh, hi faye,” Sans calls out, peeking nervously at you from behind Papyrus. 

“YES, HELLO FAYE.” Papyrus turns back to his brother with a stern express on his face. “LET ME IN.”

“bro, you don’t know enough about memes,” Sans complains. You honestly can’t believe that they’re arguing over something as petty as memes. 

“I ABSOLUTELY DO! DO YOU WANT ME TO YEET YOU ACROSS THE ROOM, SANS? BECAUSE I WILL YEET YOU ACROSS THE ROOM BEFORE YOU CAN ASK ALEXA TO PLAY DESPACITO.”

A small laugh escapes you, but it quickly builds into a full on cackle that makes you double over and run out of breath. 

“Y-you just,” you stutter out, still laughing. “Holy _shit_ , Papyrus. I didn’t even understand half of what you just said and it was still hilarious.” You _really_ needed to get caught up on the latest memes. You had a feeling that that was a lot funnier when you knew the context.

“he can join the goddamn group,” Red calls from another room. “just stop the shouting, _damn_.”

“you don’t even _like_ jokes,” Pup complains from beside you, fiddling with his headphone cord. 

“I HAVE NEVER HEARD SOMETHING SO COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FALSE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! WOWIE!” Papyrus keeps up a cheery grin, though you’re sure that he’s steaming mad underneath it all. You understood, you hated being excluded also. “SANS JUST SAYS TOO MANY.”

“Plus you’re letting _me_ in, and I’m not even up on the current stuff,” you point out. You knew a bunch of old cat memes from when you were fifteen or younger, when the troll face was still popular. You weren’t exactly going to be a big contributor at first either.

“we are?” Sans asks confusedly. “since when?”

Pup looks like he wants to answer, but his voice stutters and he stays quiet. You lean against a wall, turning back towards Sans.

“Pup let me in,” you shrug. “Didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

“...guess it’s not,” Sans admits. “sorry, paps. you can join the group chat.”

“MEME CHAT AHEAD? UH, YEAH I SURE HOPE THERE IS!” Papyrus exclaims, pumping his fist in the air. His celebration goes on for quite a few moments, but you don’t really mind.

“paps, that’s not-”

“SHUT UP SANS DO NOT RUIN MY MOMENT,” Papyrus warns Sans quickly, giving him a glare.

“Well, _that_ was the most ridiculous argument I’ve ever participated in,” you exclaim, clasping your hands together. An amused smile graces your face. “I think I’m all meme-d out.”

“NONSENSE!” Papyrus exclaims, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you exuberantly. “SHOW SANS THE KNIFE TRICK, I AM COMPLETELY OUT OF FUCKS TO GIVE!”

You thought he _didn’t_ want his brother to make that joke. You supposed he was in the mood for it now. You shrug, and step back into a stance which will allow you to summon your soul to begin. You were actually somewhat decent at making the knife now, a product of hours of torturous practice in the training field.

Uncomfortable conscious of the gazes of everyone in the room, with the addition of the entrance of Fell and Blue, you nod and begin the process of trying to grab your soul.

It gets a little easier every time, you can almost feel the humming of magic in your chest before you even mentally grab it. You push it out of your chest, opening your eyes to release a sigh of relief. That was the worst part.

You are suddenly very aware of the shocked and worried looks coming your way, directed towards your soul. You glance at Papyrus nervously.

“You _did_ tell them about the crack, right?” You side-whisper, teeth gritted. It would be exceptionally awkward for you to reveal this life threatening condition with no prior warning to them.

“I… AH, NO.”

Great.

Whatever.

“SHE’LL BE FINE!” Papyrus hurriedly explains to the growing crowd of skeletons surrounding you as you begin the process of gathering magic in your hands. “JUST, AH… COSMETIC?”

“papyrus, we know what a soul crack is,” Orange remarks from the couch. “you don’t have to lie or anything.”

It wasn’t like Papyrus was trying particularly hard to lie right now in the first place (though you knew he was great at it when he tried), but it was still downright freaky how quickly Orange could detect a lie.

With your magic gathered in your hands, you finally allow it to form the knife you’d discovered a couple days prior. It was still tricky to keep it from dispelling, and the action left you out of breath, but you were happy with how quickly you were able to summon it.

“woah, neat,” Red comments, draped upside down over the couch. “papyrus ‘s been teachin you well.”

You glance over at Sans, who has the biggest, goofiest grin on his face.

“hehehehehehe.” He laughs lowly. “what do you have there?”

You recall Papyrus’s teachings back in the field. He’d said not to engage with Sans, but you kind of wanted to see what he would do.

“A...a knife?” You respond hesitantly, eyes darting back to Papyrus. He had given you permission when he asked you to take it out, after all.

Fell groans in utter despair from the doorway to the room, slapping his head with the palm of his hand. “HERE WE GO,” he huffs.

“...nO!” Sans exclaims. You weren’t well-versed on memes, but even you had seen a vine comp or two since you got out. You may be uncultured swine, but at least you were trying.

You blink, and suddenly he’s right next to you. You should have known better than to hope that he wouldn’t act out the video. You’re just surprised that he’s willing to do something so taxing, though you supposed that teleportation was the easy way out.

You run.

Might as well play along, right. As you run, your knife inadvertently leaves behind a trail of star-shaped bullets which you hadn’t meant to release. Whoops. You remember what Sans told you back in the woods after you ran from the government when they came to the house to look for you.

You remember that he has only 1 HP.

“heh. you trying to dust me?” Sans jokes, miraculously across the room from where your knife, and subsequently your bullets, are. He had fast reflexes. “oof, ouch, my bones,” He drawls in a monotone voice.

“S-sorry!” You exclaim, immediately and reflexively dispelling your magic. You didn’t want to hurt anyone. But you always seemed to anyway. Fun how that worked, wasn’t it?

“sorry?” Sans questions you. “that was pretty cool, for real,” he winks.

You’re a little taken aback. He wasn’t going to… you don’t know… hurt you? You’d almost killed him. You never wanted to kill anything again, and you especially didn’t want to start on killing _people_.

You were being stupid. Of course he wouldn’t want to hurt you. He was Sans, you didn’t think he had a genuinely mean bone in his body. No, he’d replaced them with ketchup and bad jokes years ago. At least, that’s what you could glean from the little you knew about him.

“Thank you,” you reply nervously, drawing your soul back into your chest. “Anyway, Papyrus wanted me to show you guys… so, I did,” you explain awkwardly, despite the fact that they probably didn’t need an explanation in the first place.

Papyrus breaks the silence when he claps his gloved hands together loudly, wringing his hands nervously. He grins broadly, fishing out his cell phone. 

“SO, WHO WANTS TO MEME?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for that.
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	32. This is Halloween (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get dressed in your costume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)
> 
> **EDIT: I am _so_ sorry for the bold formatting error.**

“YOU’RE LUCKY THAT I WAS THREATENED HALF TO DEATH,” Black grumbles, dabbing on some of your Halloween makeup. “OR YOU WOULD BE WALKING OUT OF HERE LOOKING LIKE THE PERSONIFICATION OF A TRASH DUMPSTER ON FIRE.”

“AGREED,” Fell scoffs from behind you, running a curling iron through your hair. You hadn’t wanted to get very fancy for Halloween, but most of them had insisted, so you went with it. Unfortunately, it was Fell and Black who were best with this kind of thing, so they were the ones who got roped into it.

“I’M JUST SURPRISED THAT PAPYRUS DIDN’T WANT TO DO THIS HIMSELF, CONSIDERING HOW ATTACHED TO YOU HE IS,” Black teases, adding the finishing touch to your lipstick. You can’t help the small flush that makes its way over your face. That wasn’t true… right? 

You didn’t need any makeup over your nose, you’d bought a mask. You thought it would be a good idea since you were going to be visiting random people’s houses and you had no clue if any of them would be one of...them.

“I AM NOT SURPRISED THAT HE DID NOT PARTICIPATE,” Fell tsks, running his open phalanges through your hair to loosen the row of curls he just made. “IF _HE_ DID HER HAIR AND MAKEUP SHE WOULD _ACTUALLY_ WALK OUT OF HERE LOOKING LIKE THE PERSONIFICATION OF A TRASH DUMPSTER ON FIRE.”

“HARSH, BUT TRUE,” Black sighs, clicking the cap back onto the tube of lipstick and placing a couple fingers under your chin to tilt your face back and forth. He squints, and goes looking for another product to apply. You probably could have done your makeup yourself, but you had a feeling that it wouldn’t have turned out however nice Black would make it.

Could you talk again? He was done with your lips, so maybe you could talk again. 

“Don’t talk about Papyrus that way.”

It was unfair. Everyone had their weaknesses, and he was such an amazing person that it nearly felt like a crime for them to be talking about him like this behind his back. 

“HM,” Fell hums, twisting a lock of your hair back with dexterous fingers. “IF YOU SAY SO.”

“I do say so.”

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT,” Black huffs, batting your hands away. “I DON’T CARE. LET ME DO YOUR MAKEUP SO I CAN GET OUT OF HERE AND WORK ON MY OWN COSTUME.”

You frown, but comply, leaning forwards slightly to allow him to apply some kind of shimmery powder to your cheeks. It looks kind of pretty in its container you get a little lost in the way it catches the light.

You wonder why Fell and Black were any good at this stuff in the first place. They didn’t have hair. Or skin to put makeup on.

You ask them.

“OH,” Fell replies, adding a bobby pin to your hair. “BACK IN MY UNIVERSE, I WAS AN AMBASSADOR. MY FRISK WAS MY ASSISTANT, SINCE TENSIONS WERE SO HIGH THAT EVEN SOMEONE AS GREAT AS I COULD NOT HANDLE IT BY MYSELF. EITHER WAY, THEY WANTED THEIR HAIR AND MAKEUP DONE, BUT DID NOT KNOW HOW. THEY SAID THEY HAD NEVER BEEN ALLOWED TO WEAR ANY AT THEIR NOT-PARENTS HOUSE, SO I OBLIGED!”

“You’re a good friend, Fell,” you reply softly, fidgeting with your hands in your lap.

“R-REALLY? YOU THINK SO?” His voice stutters slightly before appearing again in its usual tone. “I MEAN, OF COURSE I AM! I AM VERY GREAT AND TERRIFYING.”

“So the same applies for Black?”

He nods curtly in front of you, a frown set heavy on his face. You decide not to ask what put it there.

“I AM DONE,” Fell remarks, beginning to pack up the hair supplies that he had on hand for no reason.

“Oh, really?” You ask in excitement. “Nice job!” 

Fell grumbles something in a flattered voice and leaves the room. You think you might have made him blush, but with the limited range on head movement due to Black working on your face, you aren’t sure.

“I’M NEARLY FINISHED,” Black tells you, squinting as he exams his work. “JUST A LITTLE MORE…” he dabs the last of his concealer onto your face, then screws the cap on. “DONE.”

“Thank you!” You chirp. You kind of want to give him a hug, he had worked so hard, but you knew that wouldn’t go over well with him. You settle for a crisp pat on the shoulder.

“AH… YOU’RE WELCOME?” He doesn’t protest the shoulder pat, which you take as a good sign. Progress!

“So what’s your costume look like?” You ask, peering at the top of the plastic bag sticking out of his closet.

“YOU’LL SEE WHEN I’M WEARING IT,” Black huffs. You suppose that’s true. You wouldn’t like it if someone tried to spoil the surprise of your costume either, it was part of the fun!

“Alright. Thanks for the makeup, bonehead. I’m gonna go get my costume on.”

“HEY, DON’T CALL ME-” The rest of what he was trying to say is cut off when you close his bedroom door behind you, moving to climb the stairs up to your room. 

Despite the separation from the rest of the house’s bedrooms, you sort of liked the quiet solitude being the only one on the top floor provided. If you so pleased, you could drink hot chocolate on the balcony and just look at the forest below, with little worry about someone barging in.

You enter your room and grab the clear plastic case holding your costume. It was a canned, out of the store costume, but the irony of you wearing it was just too good.

You start to put it on. You couldn’t wait for the others to see it.

 

———

 

When you descend downstairs fifteen minutes later, you think you actually look pretty nice. The costume was a pretty blue leotard with sheer pink leggings underneath, a shawl over your shoulders, and shimmery blue wings that you strapped on like a backpack. You weren’t wearing much for shoes, just clear sandals to give the impression that you were barefoot. With the addition of the hair and makeup that Fell and Black has done, you actually felt confident in yourself for once.

The most important part, however, was the mask. You needed to to hide your identity, so that’s what you put on when you reached the bottom of the stairs. It was just a pink masquerade mask, but it would do well enough to hide your facial features.

The first person to see you is Sans. Well, you use the word ‘see’ lightly. You aren’t sure he can see much of anything through the sheet draped over his head. True to his word, he didn’t even cut holes in the cloth for eyes. 

“boo.”

“Ooh, so scary,” you reply sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

“i know, right? can still see you though, the fabric is thin enough. kind of ruins the point of a blind ghost to be honest.”

“Sans, you need to be able to see. That’s kind of important.”

Sans shrugs. “i’d deal. sweet costume, i like it _**fairy**_ much.”

You snort at the bad joke, shoving him gently. “That was terrible.” 

“if by ‘terrible’, you mean ‘amazing’, then yes, that was stupendously terrible.” 

“You’re stupendously terrible,” you joke, small flush forming on your face from the inadvertent compliment you just gave him. You’d meant it to be a ‘no u’. 

“well, thank you,” he winks. “i happen to find you stupendously terrible as well.” 

O-oh. You can tell he means it platonically, at least you think so. You still can’t help it when the small flush on your face becomes a rather large one. You’re glad that his eyesight was limited, even though he could still see. 

“Th-thanks,” you stutter. You really didn’t deserve that compliment at all. “But I… don’t know if that’s particularly true?” 

“nah, shush. you’re great.” 

“WHO IS GREAT?” You hear Papyrus’s voice from another room. “ARE WE TALKING ABOUT ME? BECAUSE I AM PRETTY SPECTACULAR, AND I THINK- OH, FAYE! YOU ARE REALLY GREAT AS WELL!” 

Papyrus… Papyrus looks absolutely hilarious. He’s dressed as a glob of spaghetti with googly eyes, and is even floating half a foot above the ground for good measure. It actually looks kind of strange, he’s not bobbing up and down slightly, or moving really at all in the air aside from the forward glide when he wants to go somewhere. It looks like someone took a pin and stuck him in the air. 

“You… actually pulled that costume off surprisingly well,” you comment. 

“LOOK WHO’S TALKING!” Papyrus exclaims, placing his hands on your shoulders in excitement. “YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!” 

Man, everyone was making you blush today. You supposed you should get used to it. “Ah, thank you,” you reply shyly. 

“BLUE! GET IN HERE AND GAZE AT OUR HUMAN!” Papyrus shouts into the kitchen. You peek inside to see Blue preparing the candy bowl to leave out for the actual _children_ trick or treating. You don’t know if anyone will even give you candy, considering your adult status. You’d always looked young for your age, maybe you could pull it off. 

Blue looks pretty cool, fake knight armor decorating the black bodysuit he was wearing. He has a foam sword in the costume scabbard at his side. He looks like someone who would defend your honor if need be. 

“OOH!” He shouts exuberantly when he looks up at you. “YOU DO LOOK NICE! BLACK AND FELL DID VERY WELL ON YOUR HAIR AND MAKEUP!” 

Was everyone going to compliment you tonight? You don’t think you’re going to survive the sea of good intentions they send your way if they keep this up. 

“I like your costume too,” you respond. “What kind of candy are you putting in the bowl?” 

Blue grins mischievously. “I _WOULD_ HAVE PUT IN A MIXTURE OF M &MS, REESES PIECES, AND SKITTLES, BUT ORANGE TOLD ME THAT USUALLY HUMANS PUT OUT WRAPPED CANDY. SO I’M JUST PUTTING NORMAL CHOCOLATE IN INSTEAD.” 

“Wow, your original plan was really evil,” you reply coolly. “And to a bunch of kids? Wow, you’re the devil.” 

“HOW CAN THAT BE?” Blue responds sarcastically. “I AM BUT A HUMBLE KNIGHT!” 

“a knight going out into the night,” Orange sighs. You jump slightly, you hadn’t seen him in the corner. You laugh a little at his matching blind ghost costume. You’d known that the four lazy skeletons were going as the same thing, but it was just hitting you right now how hilarious it was. 

“Night night,” you mumble, earning a small smile and a quiet chuckle from Orange. 

“i agree with my brother, though, you look _**fairy __** _great.”_ _

__

__

“Sans already used that one,” you huff. 

Orange merely shrugs. “can’t win ‘em all.” 

“is that true?” Red asks, entering the room. “i don’t know about you, but i certainly do.” 

The only reason you can tell it’s Red is because of the collar he stubbornly latched around the neck of the sheet on top of him. You wondered why he and Pup wore them all the time, they had to mean _something_ when he went to such lengths to hook it on over his costume. 

You decide not to ask. It was probably private. You didn’t want to intrude on something personal. 

“ _damn_ , you look good, sweetheart,” Red’s voice interrupts your thoughts. If you thought you were blushing before, the mild expletive enhances it by a large margin. “you could almost say… _**fairy**_ good.” 

“Thank… you?” The repeated pun usage was starting to get old. “But Sans and Orange already used that one.” 

“no problem doll.” He completely ignores you calling out his outdated pun usage, but you don’t really mind all that much. What was with the pet names? Sure, he used them sometimes, but that was twice in a row. “my brother looks really neat.” 

“I’m sure he does, considering how well he did on my hair.” The curls were still in place despite pulling your shawl on top of it, which was great. You’d also gone to great lengths to make sure your makeup didn’t smear. 

“small warnin’ though, he might ask to suck your blood. he won’t actually try. probably,” Red states casually. You don’t know how he says that with such a steady tone. 

You hear Papyrus from the other room, shouting up the stairs. “GUYS? ARE YOU READY TO GO? IT IS GETTING DARK!” 

A chorus of ‘yes’s and a singular “yeet” follow his question, and the three remaining skeletons file down the stairs. 

“I SWEAR IF THIS IS FALSE AND WE’RE GOING TO SIT AROUND FOR HALF AN HOUR THEN I AM GOING TO SUCK ALL OF YOU PEOPLE’S BLOOD,” Fell growls, stomping down the final steps. 

“vore,” Red replies smoothly. You stifle a laugh. 

“WE DON’T EVEN HAVE BLOOD,” Blue protests. “NO MONSTER DOES.” 

Fell scowls at his brother but ignores him, swishing his long costume cape in response. He looked remarkable edgy, even for him. You supposed the costume fit him, with his natural fangs and all. 

Black is dressed as a rugged warrior, a foam axe over his shoulder. He looks pretty nice like that, almost like it was natural for him to carry a weapon. You wondered why that was. 

Finally, and probably the most unremarkable one, Pup in his sheet and collar. The hem of the sheet fall somewhere around mid-shin, and flutters around a bit as he walks. 

“GREAT!” Papyrus claps his hands together in excitement. “NOW THAT WE’RE ALL DOWNSTAIRS, ARE WE READY TO GO OUT?” 

You, along with everyone else, respond with an exuberant, if not slightly impatient “yes!”, so Papyrus unlocks the front door and begins to usher everyone out. 

Time to get a sugar high. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	33. Monsters on Parade (Halloween Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and the boys go trick-or-treating! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)
> 
> Gotta love posting a Halloween chapter on Thanksgiving.

“WAIT A SEC, I HAVE TO PUT THE CANDY OUT!” Blue shouts, darting back into the kitchen to grab the bowl of candy and his handmade sign. He places it gently by the door, and when you pass by the sign to leave, you can make out what it says.

“ ‘Take only two or I’ll steal your teeth’?” You read, glancing confusedly at Blue. 

“A WARNING!” He smiles cheerfully. 

“O… kay,” you respond slowly, immediately deciding to switch to another topic. You turn to Papyrus, who had apparently decided to take charge of this Halloween excursion. “Where are we going first?”

“WE WILL WALK IN A LEFTWARDS DIRECTION! THIS BLOCK IS A BIG LOOP, SO WE WILL END UP BACK AT THE HOUSE WHEN WE ARE DONE! THAT GIVES US ABOUT THIRTY HOUSES TO HIT,” he explains excitedly.

“sounds coolio,” Sans drawls. He brings a bottle of ketchup up to his mouth, apparently forgetting that it’s covered by a sheet. He doesn’t react to the mistake, but the bottle leaves behind a small red stain over his mouth area. You giggle. 

“SANS YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE,” Papyrus sighs, smacking a hand onto his forehead. You didn’t blame him.

Pup catches up with you, nearly tripping over a curb due to his limited vision. “hey, you look _**fairy**_ nice,” he jokes eagerly. You sigh long and loudly.

“Literally everyone else has made that exact same joke,” you deadpan. “Come up with new material.”

“hm. you look _**faye**_ -bulous?”

You smile. “Better.”

“THERE’S THE FIRST HOUSE!” Blue shouts, pointing at a house with the porch light on.

The eight of you scurry up to the front door. When no one rings the doorbell, you notice that they’re all nervously eyeing each other. You realize that this has turned into a silent battle of Who Will Ring, and no one wants to just step up and do it. You sigh, reaching your arm to poke out of the crowd of skeletons around you, and press the doorbell.

_Ring_

You wait a couple moments, and when Black finally piped up in an aggravated voice to suggest that maybe this all was a terrible idea and you should all go home, the door opens.

“Oh, my!” An old woman opens the door, holding a large bowl of candy in one hand. “What convincing skeleton costumes! Why are you wearing _another_ costume on top of your costume?” She asks. Before anyone can confusedly answer, she interrupts, rummaging through her bowl. “Well, no matter! Extra effort gets extra candy! Here you go, darlings!” 

It seems she doesn’t realize that you are all adults. Well, that’s no skin off of _your_ back, it just means smooth sailing. She drops an entire handful of candy in your candy bag, and you grin greedily. 

“Thanks, miss!” You exclaim in your most childish voice. It seemed your apprehension towards strangers immediately went away once candy was involved. You scurry back to the sidewalk, waiting for the others to get their share and meet you there.

Black is the first one to join you. He looks as if he’s struggling to keep his traditionally grumpy expression on his face, which you appreciate. No one should be upset on Halloween. 

“Enjoying yourself?” You had nearly no anxiety talking to Black these days. Even if he could get a bit snappy, he was far from how he had acted when you first moved in. 

“HMPH. THAT WOMAN INSULTED MY VISAGE. HOW ON EARTH WOULD IT EVEN BE POSSIBLE FOR ANY OF US TO PHYSICALLY BE COSTUMES?” He asks rhetorically, bag swinging on his arm as he gestures angrily. “WE ARE _SKELETONS_. SHE HAS TO KNOW THAT MONSTERS EXIST, RIGHT?”

“I’d… think so?” You didn’t know yourself how she got that confused, but everyone was a little weird. You didn’t really think it was strange that, being their neighbor, she didn’t know who they were. People were really antisocial, you honestly didn’t blame her for not having met the skeletons beforehand.

“ye boi, free candy,” says a blind ghost, who by his stature, voice, and lack of collar, you assume to be Orange. He saunters over to the curb, nearly tripping over a sprinkler head sitting at the edge of the lawn. “this is my first time celebrating Halloween, but as of now it’s by far my favorite holiday.”

“ORANGE YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO EAT ONE PIECE PER DAY!” Blue shouts from the front door of the house. He receives his handful and practically skips over to you three exuberantly. 

“c’mon, bro, go easy on me,” Orange complains. “just ‘cause you’re older doesn’t mean you have to boss me around,” he whines, shoulders dropped. “i am an adult™,” he proclaims, fists on hips.

“DID YOU JUST SAY THE ™ VERBALLY?” Blue questions him. 

“perhaps.” Orange pulls a lollipop out of the bag, unwrapping it and throwing the trash back into the container. He sticks it into his mouth and sucks on it lazily. “ish more fun if ya do thash kind of thing,” he says, voice obscured by the candy in his mouth.

“THAT IS YOUR PIECE FOR TONIGHT.”

“oh come o-”

“I’M SERIOUS.”

Orange sighs. “fine.”

“what’s goin’ on over here?” asks probably-Red, already stuffing candy into his mouth like a gremlin. “blue, are you restricting your brother’s candy consumption again?”

“IF I DON’T,” Blue protests, “HE’LL JUST EAT IT ALL IN ONE SITTING LIKE LAST CHRISTMAS!”

“we’re not even religious,” Orange tells you, watching the argument from the sidelines. “we just really like the holidays.” You silently hand him a chocolate from your bag, which he accepts gratefully, popping it into his mouth.

“an’ so what if he does?” Red responds. “he’s not yours to police. i don’ see a collar on ‘im.”

“YEAH, BECAUSE MY BROTHER ISN’T A DOG TO CHAIN UP AND PUNISH WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING WRONG.”

Red grits his teeth, glancing at the ground. Seems like what Blue said hit him a little too close to home. It was a little harsh.

“no hits below the belt, _blueberry_ ,” Red snarls. The argument looks mildly hilarious when half the participants are wearing a sheet, but you know the subject matter is serious.

“guys, guys, break it up,” the ghost you assume to be Sans gently interrupts. “no fighting on a holiday. you guys can be civil for _one day_.”

“whatever,” Red grunts, shoving his last piece of candy into his mouth. 

The rest of the group rejoins you, and you move on to the next house. It has many expensive-looking decorations strewn out on the lawn, so you’re actually really excited to go up to the door. 

That is, until you spot the sign.

‘Private Property: No Monsters Allowed.’ Below the plastic sign is a handwritten one, which reads, ‘yes, even on Halloween’. You didn’t know what level of racist you had to be to hand-make an extension to your already racist sign.

“I SUPPOSE WE WILL HAVE TO SKIP THIS ONE…” Fell pipes up after a minute or so of unbearable silence.

“...No.” Your disguise was making you bolder.

“whaddya mean, ‘no’?” Red questions you. “we can’t go.”

“But I can.” You smile, noting the looks of realization slowly dawning on the other’s faces. “And I have eight sickly siblings who all can’t come out to get candy, and I, the oldest, must collect for them in their absence,” you act out dramatically.

“NO ONE IS GOING TO FALL FOR THAT,” Papyrus chastises you. 

“Worth a try,” you shrug. No one would recognize you if they saw you afterwards, either, due to your mask. 

And with that, you march up to the front door and knock smartly on its wooden surface. A few seconds pass before the door cracks open. 

You put on your best childlike voice and exclaim, “Trick or Treat!”

“You’re alone? Alright, fine, kid,” the man who opens the door grunts, shoving a couple pieces of candy into your bag. “Scram.”

“Uh, b-but, I actually h-have… ah, _eight_ sick siblings at home? Who uh, can’t come out and… get candy? So can I-”

Before you finish your sentence, he’s shoved three more handfuls of candy into your bag.

“I don’t care enough to question your obvious lie, now get out of here.”

You don’t have to be told twice.

He slams the door in your face, and you run back to the curb where the others are waiting, generously dividing the candy you’d been given out to the eight skeletons.

“IT WORKED?” Black asks curiously. “HOW THE HELL?”

You shrug exaggeratedly. “I honestly have no idea, but here!” You hand him a mini sized snickers, grinning wildly. You don’t know _how_ your plan had gone off without a hitch, but it had.

The next couple of houses don’t go so well.

One slams the door in your face when they get a good look at you. You weren’t sure if it was because of the monster aspect or because you were adults.

One decided it was funny to jump out and scare people, so they ended up flat on the ground with a black eye due to the unfortunate fact that Fell was in front. You don’t jump out and scare Fell. Or Black, for that matter.

One wasn’t even home, and left a bowl of candy out. The bowl was empty by this time of night.

“well, that sucked,” Orange comments, bag dragging on the ground.

“you can say _that_ again,” Sans agrees, rolling his eyelights. 

You feel bad that the night is going so terribly. As the resident human, you somehow feel like it’s your responsibility to make sure the night goes well.

“Sorry.”

“WHAT FOR?” Blue asks you confusedly. “EVEN IF SOME HUMANS SUCK, YOU’RE PRETTY COOL!”

“AGREED!” Papyrus declares, hands on hips. “YOU ARE NOT THE SPOKESPERSON FOR ALL OF HALLOWEEN. I AM SURE IT WILL GET BETTER AFTER THIS!” 

And get better, it did!

The next house you trudge up to has a much different feel to all of the others. The decorations are lively and bright, and though the boys had to point it out to you, the decorative skeletons outside are dressed for some reason.

When the door opens, it’s a furry bunny monster who answers it. She immediately starts laughing, but you can tell that it’s good natured.

“Sans the skeleton, I cannot believe that you and your brother are trying to pull a fast one over on me like this,” she drawls in a southern accent, ending on a chuckle. You don’t know how she can even tell that she sheet-clad figure is even Sans. “Who are the rest of these folks?”

“our… cousins?” Sans lies. Even Orange glances in his direction at that one. “and our resident human.”

The lady raises an eyebrow like she doesn’t quite believe him, but lets it slide. 

“How’s your night been scammin’ people for candy?” She asks kindly.

“not great actually,” Sans admits, running a hand along the back of his hand. It looks kind of weird from under a sheet.

“Ah, that’s because you don’t know the right houses to go to,” she winks. “The little one had the same problem you’re having the first couple years we tried Halloween. Then we drew out a map of the safe houses, and everything’s been smooth sailing since!”

“wh- really?”

“Uh huh! See here- oh hey, sugar bun,” she coos to a small rabbit child who runs up and clings to her mother’s leg. The bunny child is amusingly dressed in a bunny costume. This household must have a sense of humor.

The woman rummages with a stack of paper at the side and hands Sans a map. “Here you go, hun. Have a good night.” She smiles, and closes the door.

“Who was she?” You ask curiously. Obviously they had to have been Underground together, but it seemed like she knew him personally.

“she used to run an inn back underground. she’s really sweet, as you can probably tell, heh,” Sans smiles. “not as sweet as her sister’s pastries though.”

“really? she was a real bitch in my universe,” Red speculates. “wouldn’t let you stay in ‘er hotel unless you did a hit for ‘her.”

“YOU HAD TO _KILL_ SOMEONE TO STAY IN THE INN?” Blue asks incredulously. 

Red shrugs. “yeah, so? haven’t done it here. had to do it back home.”

“I KNEW IT WAS BAD, BUT-”

“I’m sorry, you had to what?” This was news to you. You pretty much knew from context clues that Red and Pup’s universes were not as nice as here, but you didn’t know that it was that bad.

“kill people,” Pup responds softly, cutting into the conversation. “there’s reasons we didn’t tell you before.”

“TO BE FAIR, WE ARE NOT DOING IT ANYMORE,” Fell hurriedly interrupts. 

“MOSTLY.” Black deadpans. Everyone glances at him nervously. “I’M JOKING,” he explains in a completely flat voice.

“Ah… good? I guess??” You nudge Sans, who was still holding the map. “Let’s just keep going.”

Thanks to the map of houses that will actually accept monsters, your rate of candy-earning is much higher. The few times you _do_ get turned away, it’s because the homeowner realized that you nine were a bunch of adults and were creeped out, and you honestly didn’t blame them.

You all agree that after the last house, you’ll go home. Your bags were starting to strain under the weight of the candy filling it, and everyone was growing tired of walking, except maybe Papyrus and Blue. Black and Fell were a little too jaded to care enough to stay out longer, or at least that’s the performance they put out for others to see.

When the man who owns the house opens the door, you immediately shrink into the back of the group of skeletons, gasping for breath. He shouldn’t be here. Your breathing quickens, magic forming a lump in your chest that you instinctually don’t want to dispel. You’re backing up so quickly that you would be afraid that you would trip on a hem of blind ghost costume if you weren’t so scared of what was in front of you.

You couldn’t be here. You needed to leave. Because if you were correct, and his face was the face you thought it was…

Then he was a Coat.

And you needed to go home. Immediately.

You can’t see much, your anxiety attacks always cloud your vision, but you tug on the sheet of a blind ghost costume in front of you. You know whoever is under a sheet can teleport, so it’s a good bet.

He turns, and you cling to him, nails digging into the fabric on top of the skeleton. That can’t feel very good, but you don’t hear a protest. 

“Scientist… inside… please get me out of here,” you croak, tears already beginning to form at the corners of your eyes. 

He wraps an arm around you, and your tears seep into the sheet. In a second, you’re back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	34. Being Born Fucking Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s your birthday. (Yes, it’s the day after Halloween.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

You didn’t even want to _think_ about today.

You’d been considering telling everyone, but after the mess that was yesterday, Halloween, you didn’t want to inconvenience anyone further. Today was just another meaningless marking on the finite chart of your life, anyway.

It was your twenty-second birthday. 

Yaaay.

When Orange brought you back home yesterday and you’d stumbled to the bathroom to vomit from the sheer anxiety and panic and fear seeing that Coat had brought you, you told yourself that you wouldn’t tell them about your birthday. You didn’t deserve the celebration anyways.

“why don’t you go upstairs and go to sleep,” Orange had sighed. “sorry about all of that. we probably won’t be doing much when the others get back, anyways.”

Orange was a good friend. Better than you’d ever be. You were tired of pretending you were happy while the world fell apart around you.

There was a Coat living just a little more than two blocks away. In a monster safe household. You didn’t even know how to wrap your mind around that. You still felt safe where you lived, somehow. You knew that as long as your house-mates cared about you, you’d be fine. You’d be secure.

And it was your birthday.

You honestly didn’t know how to deal with it. Completely ignoring the occasion seemed wrong, somehow, as if you were committing the greatest blasphemy against yourself. But you didn’t particularly want the fuss of a big celebration and everyone congratulating you, either. Maybe you’d celebrate privately. That seemed like a good middle ground.

That’s how you end up peering over a stale cupcake in your bedroom, wishing desperately over the singular candle you’d found rolling around in a drawer somewhere. You couldn’t find a lighter, but maybe the magic of candles carried on even when they weren’t lit.

You felt ridiculous. The cupcake probably wasn’t even that good.

You take a bite. You were right. It was terrible.

This was turning out to be a truly shitty two days.

“what are you doin’ in here?” Pup asks playfully, pushing open your bedroom door slightly. He opens it a little further when you make eye contact with him, but hesitated to step inside.

“I... uhm.” You frown at the floor, wiping gross cupcake crumbs from your lips. “It’s... my birthday.”

“birthday, huh? by my calculations, that’d make you twenty-three? or twenty-two. twenty-two, final answer.”

You’d been so deadset on being upset today, but you can’t stop the smile that splits your face at Pup’s humor. “Yeah, twenty-two.”

Pup pumps a fist. “yesss.” He shuffles over to your partially eaten cupcake and regards it with a funny look. “you deserve a better birthday than two week old cupcake,” he decides.

“does papyrus know?”

It was almost kind of funny that everyone immediately deferred to Papyrus when it came to matters concerning you. They just automatically associated you two in their heads, it seemed.

You shake your head guiltily. “You’re the only one.”

“and you hadn’t meant to tell _me_ , either,” he sighs defeatedly.

“No offense, but... no. I didn’t.” 

You stand in silence for a golden moment or two, staring at your crumbly, sad cupcake. You can’t believe that you had tried to _eat_ that.

“you know,” Pup murmurs conspiratorially, “i know a cafe with the best pastries around. can totally make up for your lonely, depressing cupcake.”

“Really?” 

“yeah. happy birthday. grab my hand.”

You do so, and in a moment, you’re in a brightly lit cafe. Pastel colors decorate the walls and furnishings. The place would be very cute and sweet if it weren’t for all the...

“sPIDERS!” In an instant, you’re clambering all over Pup to try and escape the small cloud of spiders crawling towards you on the colorful tile floor.

“ouch. rude,” Pup tsks. You take that to mean the way you climbed on him, and move to apologize, when he speaks up again. “i mean, they’re just trying to seat us.”

“They’re just trying to... I’m sorry, what?”

“seat us. ‘s their job, ya know.”

“They have jobs?” You were truly confused now. They were _spiders_.

“yeah, muffet’s a generous boss. got a soft spot for spiderkind, even your weird human-brand ones,” Pup explains, plucking a lollipop from a small container on the reception desk. He unwraps it and pops it into his mouth. “leas’, this one does. mine was different.”

“How so?” The spiders are leading you towards a booth, and while you keep your distance from the spiders, you slide into the pastel seat. Pup sits across from you.

“eh. she ran a much more casual joint than this. an’ she wasn’t so… eccentric? that woulda been the _grillby_ of my ‘verse.”

“So it’s like they just…” you pause, trying to find the right word. “swapped?”

“yeah, you could say that.” Pup bites down on his lollipop, extracting the stick from his mouth and placing it on the table. Gross. “lotta people from where i came from seem to be like that. the king an’ queen, the royal scientist and the ex-captain o’ the royal guard, hell, even me and my brother, if you really think about it.” He shrugs. “course, that’s only thinking from _this_ universe’s perspective. if you lived where i come from, you’d probably think that everyone _here_ was wackadoodle.”

“That makes a lot of sense, actually.” He must have given this a lot of thought.

“orange and his brother are the same way. it was kind of a difficult adjustment when we first got here, and of course you still sort of miss everyone back home, but it’s livable.”

You couldn’t imagine how that felt. He had everyone he knew surrounding him, but they weren’t quite right. That was some nightmare territory in your opinion.

“it’s alright though. ‘d rather be here than back there.”

“Really?” You think you’d been told that before, but it still didn’t make much sense to you. “You don’t want to go home? I know there was the trouble with mages back where you come from, but-”

“it was _bad_.” Pup’s eye sockets have the dead serious look in them that you only sometimes see from the others. “imagine the world’s most lethal police force, only they don’t even have regular emotion or free will. people living in fear, cowering in their homes. those robotic voices…” He shivers. “anyway, glad to be here.” He smiles at you, and you smile back.

“I’m glad you’re here too,” you reply softly. 

Pup looks a little surprised at your response, glancing away from you for a moment. “i don’t know why,” he admits hesitantly. “you wouldn’t miss me if i wasn’t here. no one would.”

“You’re _wrong_.”

“no, i don’t think i a-”

“You’re wrong. I would miss you so much,” you respond sympathetically. “And so would everyone else. We care about you, Pup.”

“m’ brother wouldn’t care. hell, he might prefer it that way.”

You consider his statement before shaking your head. “No, I don’t think so. What he does isn’t good or right, sure, but I think he loves you in his own way. He just needs help showing it.”

“i don’t get how you can be so- oh hey muffet.”

You jump slightly at the large spider lady who was suddenly standing next to your table. 

“Hello, dearies~” she greets you warmly. “What will we be having today?~”

“my usual, thanks.”

You glance down at the menu that was suddenly shoved into your grasp by one of Muffet’s many hands. You try to choose an option that seems the least spider-y.

It’s difficult. They all have the word ‘spider’ in the title. You figure you’ll be able to handle spiders baked into a donut better than spider corpses floating in a cup of cider, or worse, *liquified* into the drink so you can’t pick them out, so you choose that option.

“An excellent choice, my sweet~,” The spider lady comments, taking your menu back. You don’t even have time to gape at her many eyes and arms before she’s gone. Probably for the better, you didn’t want to be rude.

“the donut, eh?” Pup asks, drumming his fingers rhythmically on the table. You think you recognize the beat from one of his tracks. “you’ll get a nice _crunch_.”

You regard him with wide eyes, swallowing nervously. “R-really?”

Pup waves you off. “yeah, but you’ll hardly notice it next to how good the actual pastry tastes. the crunch might add some texture,” he shrugs.

You still weren’t entirely convinced, so you’re left making a weird face when you nod.

“I was always weird with textures,” you comment. That was probably a side effect of being on the autism spectrum, along with your liking of bringing your music everywhere you went, and the fidgeting you constantly did. If you were to list every sign, it would probably fill two pages front and back, just off of the top of your head.

Speaking of your music, you hadn’t had time to grab it before you left the house, and it was showing. Your fidgeting with your hands and feet was growing truly restless, and you had you forcefully restrain yourself from bouncing your leg so quickly that it vibrated the table.

“As I was saying,” you pick back up from your previous conversation, trying nervously to divert attention from your bouncing leg, “your brother can be mean and awful, yes. But I don’t think that he’s doing it for malicious reasons, if that makes sense?” 

“i guess, sorta,” Pup makes a so-so gesture with his hands. “sure, when i was little, the gruff ‘i don’t care about anyone or anything attitude’ was helpful, but now that i’m an adult it’s just aggravating.”

Not to mention the damage it was doing to Pup. He already didn’t feel great about himself, he didn’t need his older brother belittling him and his interests at every turn as well.

“How did that help you?”

“i... uh,” Pup tugs nervously on his collar. “hey, you’re acting kind of funny,” he suddenly exclaims, completely ignoring your question. “what’s the deal?”

You press your foot flat against the ground, refusing to bounce any longer.

“I just left my music at home. It’s fine. I’ll survive.”

Pup frowns. “if you say so.” He looks down at the table, then back up at you. “do you really wanna know why it helped?”

You blink a little in surprise. “Um, yeah, actually.”

Pup grits his teeth. “fine.” 

You have a feeling this explanation will leave both of you feeling emotionally exhausted, so you buckle in for the long haul.

“the first thing you gotta understand is that in my world, it was kill or be killed, at least underground. though you humans could honestly fool me into thinking you have it the same way up here,” he comments gruffly, raising a brow. “no one particularly _liked_ it that way and people could get hesitant sometimes, but for the most part everyone played along with that rule. there were few protests.”

“That sounds terrible,” you mumble sympathetically.

Pup shrugs off your worry. “eh, you get used to it. was a hell of a shock when i got here and found out that not everyone had to live that way down there, though. even kids had to watch their backs. stayin’ in stripes helped a _little_ , but the main work on keepin’ little ones safe was left to their families.”

You knew what striped clothing represented to monsters, it was part of the reason you didn’t wear any most of the time. It was interesting to hear that Pup’s universe had it too.

“if you acted all soft to your kid, chances were they’d get knifed in the back because they were too trusting to the wrong person. chances were they wouldn’t live to leave stripes. you gotta yell at ‘em so they hate everything and everyone. my brother knew that. still does. he just takes it a bit far.”

“Are Red and Fell the same way?” You think you were connecting the dots now. “Red wears a collar like you do, and his brother can be just as verbally aggressive.”

Pup tugs on his collar at the mention of it. “this ol’ thing? ‘s a symbol of protection. i’m the younger brother, the ‘weaker’ brother. so this got clicked roun’ my neck when i was real young. m’lord- i mean sans- i mean black,” He sheepishly corrects himself, “half scared the life out of me to get me to leave it on. would feel weird to take it off now.”

“And the constant shaming?”

“listen, if someone had a hobby like _stargazing_ back there, they’d be killed in a heartbeat for choosing it. do you know how vulnerable you are when you’re just laying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling? they weren’t even real stars.”

“So when it comes down to it, he’s just really overprotective.” You still didn’t like his behavior. He sounded abusive, even with all of the fancy justification. “But you aren’t there anymore, why hasn’t he stopped?”

“i...” Pup hesitates, scratching a phalange along the table. “don’t actually know. maybe he still feels like he has to keep me safe? maybe he’s so used to acting that way that he doesn’t know how to act differently? maybe he doesn’t care enough to change?” He props himself up with a hand on his chin. “maybe all three?” He mumbles softly.

That leaves you both in a heavy silence. The quiet sits on your shoulders and stays there, a heavy weight that doesn’t lift.

“Here’s your food dearies~!” Muffet exclaims, suddenly at your table. You hadn’t been paying attention enough to see her approach. Her sudden appearance snaps both of you out of your melancholy, and you force a conversational smile onto your face.

“Oh, thanks,” You thank her gratefully, accepting the small plate with your donut on it. It smelled delicious, despite what you knew was inside it.

She hands Pup a bottle of honey mustard and leaves to tend to another table. You look back at Pup, grim look returning to your face.

You eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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	35. Skeleton Pajamas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and most of the others leave the house for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“WE MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY?!?” Papyrus exclaims, shaking your shoulders harshly in frustration. His expression is a mixture of annoyed and amused. “WHY DID YOU NOT TELL US?!?”

“she told me,” Pup comments snarkily from the corner. You shoot him a glare. He wasn’t helping your situation very much.

“I didn’t tell him, he found out,” you correct, still being jerked back and forth by Papyrus shaking you. “I didn’t mean for anyone to know.”

“THIS IS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Papyrus shouts, louder than usual. If your arms were free and you didn’t want to run the risk of looking rude, you’d probably be covering your ears right now. Papyrus actually _intending_ to yell was a sound loud enough to maybe even wake his brother.“I HAVE TO LEAVE TO GET YOU A GIFT RIGHT AWAY!” He pauses, glancing side to side. Before you can speak up to let him know that that really wasn’t necessary, he starts yelling again. “YOU KNOW WHAT? SCREW IT! WE ARE ALL GOING TO GET YOU A BIRTHDAY PRESENT. EXCEPT YOU OF COURSE. THAT WOULD BE SILLY.”

With that last proclamation, he leaves you standing there and he zips by to gather the members of the household. He darts back to where you are periodically to drop off the skeletons, who wave at you sheepishly as if being hurled by Papyrus into the living room is an everyday event. Who knows, maybe it is. 

You think he’s literally carrying his brother and Red, which is interesting. By the time the metaphorical dust clears, he’s shoved Black into the group, who crosses his arms and sneers defiantly.

“I’M NOT GOING.” He announces, stomping off. So much for Papyrus’s work rounding him up.  
You hear a door slam loudly upstairs, and flinch at the loud noise.

“WELL, _MOST_ OF US ARE GOING!” He announces triumphantly. Seems he was successful in convincing Fell to come with him. He doesn’t even look too disgruntled at the thought of going with Papyrus to buy you a present.

You have half a mind to tell them it’s fine, you don’t _need_ a gift, you’re fine as you are, but you know you’ll just be dismissed by Papyrus. He was criminally caring, and no one could escape the reach of his love.

You guess you’ll be home alone with Black. He isn’t honestly that terrible when you get past the blatant vitriol he spits at everyone he talks to. You kind of liked talking to him, actually. He had a dry sense of humor that not a lot of people understood. Maybe not being understood was why he shut himself in his room so much. He was actually pretty sociable when you started a conversation with him.

This could be fun!

 

———

 

This was _not_ fun.

Black was refusing to leave his room or let you in to talk to him. 

You were honestly kind of disappointed. Last time you’d been home alone with a skeleton it had been Sans, and that had been fun. You’d learned a lot about him when he showed you the lab under the garage. You wonder if they made even a dent on fixing the machine. Based on the way Sans described it, probably not.

You try to spend some time on your own, wandering the house, instead of going to Black. If he didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to talk. You weren’t about to encroach on his boundaries.

It’s difficult to occupy your mind when you so desperately need to talk about the things Pup stuck in your head on your birthday. It’s even more difficult to focus on reading the substantial book you picked out of the upstairs study due to the fact that just the person you needed to talk to was a floor beneath you.

This was getting frustrating. You slap the book closed, pacing back and forth. You’d heard Pup’s side of the story, but Black was sure to remember things completely differently. He was also older, so had a longer memory for what things were like in his universe. 

It was honestly fascinating, and a little bewildering, that a society could function, or even _exist_ with a ‘kill or be killed’ mindset. By all logic, it should have crumbled apart like dried mud rolled in a child’s hand, but by Pup’s account, it didn’t.

You almost wish Blue were here so you could take your frustration out on a punching bag. You wouldn’t want to humiliate yourself by going without your teacher. 

You stalk out of the upstairs study, closing the door harshly behind you. You need a cup of juice. When you pass the second floor to get to the first, you almost break off to go knock on Black’s door, but ultimately stop yourself. Death, though appealing, wasn’t in the cards for you today.

Turns out you didn’t have to knock on his door. Midway into your apple juice pour, Black comes shuffling downstairs in monogrammed pajamas and rabbit slippers, hand rubbing his eye socket. It was unlike him to still be in his pajamas at this time. You hadn’t even noticed that he was still wearing them when Papyrus dragged him downstairs earlier.

“Hi?” You set the jug of juice down onto the counter, screwing the cap back on and staring at Black in confusion. 

Black stares blankly at nothing for a couple seconds before replying. “...HI.”

He shuffles over to the pantry and pulls out a cookie, nomming on it with sharp teeth and a heavy lidded expression. He looks thoroughly done with today.

“Are you okay?” The fact that that’s a question you have to ask him is honestly concerning. 

“MM. DON’T CARE.” It looks like Black has a love-hate relationship with his cookie.

“Alright,” you reply tentatively, taking a sip of your drink. “Why are you in your pajamas.”

“I COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT TODAY.”

“Why not?”

“HHHMMFH.” That sounded disgruntled. At least you think so, it was hard to tell through the cookie.

You don’t think he’s going to be telling you any time soon. 

“Eh, fine,” you feign a shrug. “I didn’t want to know anyways. I especially wasn’t going to convince the others to let you cook for the next two weeks if you told me. Nope. Nuh uh. Not at all.”

Black gives you a dead look before finally giving in. He swallows his bite of cookie and keeps the rest on a paper plate as he boosts himself up onto the linoleum counter to be at face level with you.

“IT’S THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY I WAS MADE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD.” He states bluntly. You blink in surprise, you hadn’t expected him to tell you so quickly. 

“That’s really cool!” You exclaim excitedly, bouncing slightly at the thought of Black as a badass royal guard. “What kinda stuff did you do?”

Black’s mouth twists up into a crooked grin. “KILL PEOPLE, MOSTLY.”

Is he smiling because he killed people or is he smiling because he’s trying to intimidate you? Is it both?

“Why?”

The smile falters. “WHY?” Black parrots. He stops for a second before getting back on track. “IT WAS MY JOB.”

“That sounds awful.” You hold your arms in a hugging position, hunched over slightly. You knew what it was like to be forced to kill things, but you couldn’t imagine if they had been people, or even people you knew.

“I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY,” Black sneers, hopping off the counter. He wipes cookie crumbs off of his pajamas and takes a rebellious bite. “I’OM LEAVFING.”

A frown grows on your face. “I wanted to hang out. Maybe watch a movie?” You knew the chances were slim of getting him to stay down here, but it was worth a try.

Black swallows his cookie, expression truly incredulous. “YOU AREN’T GOING TO STOP BOTHERING ME UNTIL I SAY YES, ARE YOU?”

Before you can confirm either way, he’s slumped onto the couch face down.

“One of those days, huh?” You ask Black sardonically, sitting down on the couch next to him. He nods pitifully, and you actually feel a little sorry for the poor bastard. “Why’s the anniversary so hard for you?”

Black pulls his head up from the couch to fix you with a glare, then drops it back down with a poof. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” you admit. You decide to switch subjects. This isn’t going anywhere fast. “What do you wanna watch?”

There’s a muffled sound from where his mouth is pressed into the couch cushion. You try not to snort in laughter. You poke him gently, and he lifts his head up in annoyance.

“SUSPENSE THRILLER.”

He doesn’t give you any more information than that. You shrug and accept it, moving up from the couch to rummage through the enormous movie collection. It would almost be impressive, if you didn’t know how big they could get yourself.

“How about this one?” You ask, holding up the glossy case at Black’s eye level. He looks at it, giving you a curt nod. You crack open the case, kneeling before the movie player. You get the movie started.

Where’d Black get the popcorn?

Why was he looking at you as if you were the entertainment?

This was going to be scary, wasn’t it?

 

———

 

It was an hour into the movie and while you weren’t exactly scared, you _were_ on the edge of your seat, teeth gritted. You couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. Would she escape the clown infested drug den?

You steal some of Black’s popcorn. He bats your hand away in annoyance.

“GET YOUR OWN POPCORN,” He snaps snarkily. You roll your eyes, focusing back onto the movie screen. You’re uncomfortably aware of the way he’s studying your reactions to the movie. How many times has he seen this?

“Do you like this movie?”

“HMM? AH, YEAH, IT’S ALRIGHT.” Black tosses a piece of popcorn into his mouth and sits up, leaning back against the couch in a relaxed position. “I WOULDN’T EXPECT THE SIMPLE MINDED OTHERS WHO AREN’T HERE RIGHT NOW TO UNDERSTAND THE SUBTLE COMPLEXITIES OF ITS STORY.”

You wouldn’t exactly label this movie as subtle. 

“Do I not count as a ‘simple minded other’?” That possibility alone was astounding. You didn’t think Black held you in any esteem at all.

“EH. YOU HAVE A HEAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS, AT LEAST,” he shrugs, finishing off his popcorn. He starts licking his fingers one by one. “DON’T MISTAKE THIS FOR A COMPLIMENT. I’M SIMPLY REMARKING ON YOUR ABILITY TO COMPREHEND THE MEDIA I PRESENT TO YOU.”

Sure sounded like a compliment to you.

“Whatever you say, boneboy,” you reply, flicking his nasal bone playfully. He doesn’t take to that well, swatting at you in frustration. For someone who hates cats, he sure acts a lot like one.

“JUST...WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE,” Black grumbles, slumping back against the back of the couch. 

You comply, finally deciding to take mercy on the small skeleton. 

Oh, she _did_ escape from the convent of clowns in the drug den. What a shocker. And she gets the guy at the end.

The movie ends, credits roll, and not a single eye is dry in the room. Mostly because you’re crying tears of happiness that the film is over. You don’t know why Black watches this crap, but it probably has something to do with how shitty it is. Bad movies tend to attract a niche group of people. Maybe Black fell into that niche.

“SO... HOW’D YOU LIKE IT?”

Is it your imagination, or does he sound worried? Apprehensive? Tentative? He’s obviously trying to cover it up, but it’s there.

You decide to lie. He’s not Orange. You can get away with it.

“It was great!” You grit your teeth. “Excellent plot!”

Black looks incredibly surprised. “REALLY?? I FOR ONE THOUGHT THAT THE PLOT WAS BIZARRE AND CONTRIVED, AND THAT THE MOVIE ITSELF WAS A TOTAL SHITSHOW, BUT ALRIGHT.”

Well, you just stepped on your own foot. The fucker lied to you earlier, making it sound like he liked the movie. 

Whatever, you could go with it. “Y-yeah! Its cinematography was... unique?” You couldn’t think of a better compliment for the truly subpar movie.

“YOU DIDN’T LIKE IT AT ALL, DID YOU?”

“No,”

“GOOD.”

It was your turn to look confused as you work on cleaning up the popcorn and putting away Black’s movie. He seemed tired, you didn’t want to make him do it. You didn’t know if he even would.

You’re in the kitchen, rinsing out the buttery bowl, when suddenly Black’s voice rings out.

“I’M UPSET BECAUSE OF THE ANNIVERSARY.”

Did you do something to earn that?

You rush back over to where he is on the couch and sit down. 

“NORMALLY I WOULD BE BACK THERE CELEBRATING BUT INSTEAD I’M HERE. NOT CELEBRATING. THE TITLE DOESN’T EVEN HOLD ANY VALUE HERE,” Black huffs. You can see why he’s upset. If you lost everything you worked for, you’d be pretty upset as well.

You hesitate before replying. “...I know this place isn’t the same, and I know I can’t make a celebration very good,” you start nervously. “But do you want to watch another movie?”

Black looks at you for a good minute before responding in a softer tone.

“YEAH. WITH POPCORN.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	36. When You Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the Horrortale universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of a new side fic for this series!! It will be filling the Monday update slot, so ESaaM will be updated on Fridays only now! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> I won’t be posting any more chapters of this to ESaaM, so please go to the next work in the series to see this new one, TSaaM!! I’m very excited about this!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)  
> [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)  
> [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

Ow.

You don’t like falling.

You’re lying down on your back, curled defensively around your backpack. You don’t remember doing that. Of course, you blacked out midway down, so you didn’t remember much. You wish you were dead, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards for you today.

It’s better to be alive down here than up there, though.

Hopefully.

You’re in something… fluffy. Soft. Cold.

Snow.

You sit up abruptly, brushing your hair out of your face. You crane your head side to side, trying to take in as much of your surroundings as possible. The air smelled damp and moldy. The snow was gray.

You tilt your head way up, nearly parallel with the snowy ground, and see a small white dot which was the hole you jumped into. How were you even alive? For once you hated miracles.

Slowly, and with achy joints, you push yourself up to a standing position. You were glad your backpack fell with you, or you would be even more afraid than you already are.

It was almost strange how you’d come to fall down here. The ground up above had been fine and sturdy, and then it hadn’t. A section of ground in front of you had merely crumbled away into nothingness before your eyes. 

You were never one to take a sign for granted, so you jumped.

And 

F  
E  
L  
L  
D  
O  
W  
N

You always were one for dramatics.

The trees further on look dense, and you’re thinking that maybe you should head in that direction. You move to do so, but stop when you see something in the distance. Something red, something bluish?

You aren’t quite sure, to be perfectly honest.

They look like they’re coming closer.

You scurry into the trees, hoping they’ll give you protection. You don’t know who those people are, but you have a sense of foreboding slowly crawling up your back. You hike your backpack higher up and duck behind a tree as the figures pass you. You don’t get a good look at them, but you can hear the snow crunching under their feet as they walk. They sound big.

“-dunno about that, but-”

Your entire body tenses when you hear the voices talking to each other while they pass you. Snow crunches under your feet, and you hold your breath to avoid making any noise. You don’t know why you feel so completely and utterly terrified at the thought of them finding you, but you’re staying put until they’re gone.

You let out a sigh of relief when they pass you completely, going on their merry way. It wasn’t normal for you to be so apprehensive, so for your alarm bells to be going off like this must say something. You take a moment to calm your breathing, watching your chest move slower and slower as your heart rate drops. You step out cautiously from behind the tree, gripping your backpack straps like it might kill you to let go. 

The pivot out from behind the tree puts you face to face with a stooped-over skeleton, grinning madly. You instinctually scramble back, tripping over a tree root. You fall backwards and hit your head against the bark of another tree, and lie at the base of it with a dazed feeling.

“SANS! I WAS RIGHT! THERE WAS A HUMAN HERE! COME ON!”

It’s a few moments before you’re being peered over by two skeletons. What a day. The dizziness starts to clear a little, and you start to appreciate just how covered in blood these two are. That’s not terrifying at all. 

You sit up, trying to ignore the wooziness in your head as the skeletons scramble to push you back down.

“NO, NO. STAY DOWN.”

“paps, can we just take her straight back to town this time? do we have to do the whole song and dance?”

“I DO NOT SEE WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH FRANCE.”

“no, not france, just-“ the skeleton growls, picking at a jagged hole in his skull that your clouded vision was only now allowing you to see.  
That didn’t look sanitary. You cringe at the gory visual, unused to seeing something like that. You probably shouldn’t hold him to the same standard as a human, but how was he even alive? 

Both of them sure do have mighty scary teeth. Yup. The taller one’s almost seem to be bloodstained. You don’t want to know what stained them.

“NOW! PUZZLES!” The taller skeleton hoists you up by the armpits and set you harshly on your feet before jogging off to who knows where. You look confusedly at the shorter skeleton.

“what are you looking at me for? we’re gonna have a great time,” he grins. “it’s nice to _**meat**_ you.” You don’t understand the joke and you’re not sure you want to. The skeleton holds out his hand. “i’m sans. sans the skeleton.” Grateful for a bit of politeness, you take his hand, and shake firmly. 

That was the wrong decision.

You scream in agony as a drill cuts into the soft flesh of your hand and _rotates_ , moving deeper and deeper into your dominant hand. The hand would be effectively useless now to who you now knew very clearly was a threat. What could you do? You couldn’t back away, his hand was attached to you by the drill which was _still embedded in your palm_.

You try to jerk your hand away, scream stuttering in your throat. You don’t think you’ve ever been in so much pain in your entire life. It whirs, and it digs, and it keeps rotating.

Your breathing quickens, heart-rate pounding in your chest and your ears and your throat. You couldn’t die here. You wouldn’t die here. 

You were determined not to.

“woah, there.” Sans grins wildly, suddenly to the side of you. “that’s cheating. you can’t do that.”

Do what? You hadn’t done anything. You didn’t think so, anyway. There was a strange lump in your chest and a buzzing in your hands and a new, pounding migraine.

“interesting,” Sans speculates, still staring at you with that unnerving grin. “help a friend out and tell me sometime. seeya.”

He’s gone.

You collapse into the snow. You immediately wince and draw back your right palm from the icy powder. You didn’t know how to take care of wounds like that. You hoped your hand would be okay, that he hadn’t severed any tendons.

 

You didn’t know if this was better or worse than up above. You shudder from a wave of cold that suddenly ripples through you, and pull your olive green jacket closer to yourself. It was thin, but it was better than nothing. Today was turning out much different than you thought it would be.

You force yourself to stand, still shivering from the snow and the pain and your fear. You step out onto the path, out of the forest. You supposed it was no use hiding from them now, if they had magic and knew you existed. You could run into the forest and make yourself a home, but you hadn’t fallen down here to live, had you? You’d rather face your problems head on anyways. More efficient that way.

Blood is dripping from your palm, down your fingers, and into the snow, effectively melting a trail of drops into the powder as you walk. That was cool, but you needed to wrap it if you were going to get anything done.

You sit on the side of the path and pull your backpack from your back, unzipping it to rummage through the contents. Hesitantly, you grab the only roll of bandages you have. You should have brought more. You’d need them here, if your introduction to Sans was any indication. Or maybe they were anomalies and you were completely wrong.

You should probably be freaking out more about the existence of skeletons.

Nah. Not worth the time or effort.

You don’t get far before you see something else that’s weird. It sparkles, shines a golden light which stands out from the dingy atmosphere. Normally it would be your compulsion to back away from the weird, unexplained object, but for some reason right now you’re feeling the opposite. Almost as if you’re being drawn to it, you reach out, touch the star,

And [SAVE].

[FILE 1 SAVED.]

[NAME NOT FOUND.]

[HP RESTORED.]

You’re filled with determination.

 

———

 

“SANS! SHE’S HERE!”

“i can see that, papyrus. can you stop shouting? you’re hurting the hole in my head.”

“NO, BE QUIET!” Papyrus strikes a pose. “HUMAN! WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST PUZZLE!”

It doesn’t really look like much. Just an expanse of snow. Maybe he wasn’t very competent.

“you get three freebies. if you’re ever stuck on a puzzle, just hold up the number of freebies you have left and we’ll solve it for you. got it?”  
Sounded reasonable. You liked puzzles, you were up for it.

“FRISBEES ARE NOT IN THE BUDGET SANS.”

“are you gonna do this every damned time paps?freebies.” He emphasizes, rubbing his forehead in frustration. There’s been times before this?

“YES, THAT IS WHAT I SAID! FRISBEES!”

“goddamnit papyrus! _freebies, goddamn freebies_!”

“IF THEY ARE SO DAMNED THEN WHY ARE WE GIVING THE HUMAN THREE OF THEM?”

“you know what? forget it.”

You stare slightly amused at their antics, frozen in place. You were incredibly cold, you needed to get inside before you got hypothermia. You supposed it was better than being in a place that was too hot, though. You hated the intense cold but you couldn’t stand the heat.

Papyrus hands his brother a ball, then gestures towards you. Abruptly, the ball is shoved into your hands, and you see Sans back with Papyrus, orb-less. Weird. What was this thing? It seemed to be made of some sort of metal, but doesn’t have any facets on it aside from a single screw at the top. Did it do anything?

“THE ORB WILL PROTECT YOU!” He jovially announces. Okay. You clutch it close to your chest. You weren’t liking the look of those blood stained teeth. If the orb would protect you, you were never letting go of it. You take a step forward, trembling ever so slightly. 

_snap_

Ah. Bear trap.

 

———

It’s cold.

It’s cold and it’s dark.

You

You don’t exist.

You aren’t real.

The shining gold hurts your eyes. You don’t want to look at it, but you do.

 

[̷̨̧̢̝͕̮̪̺͓̤̺̺̙͓̼̗̰̯̫͔̟̝͖̞̖̻̳̪̺̦̭͍̫̓̅̐͗̇̾̂͛͒͂͆̓̓̓̽̆͛͜R̸̢̧̢̡̡̬̫̺̻̪̰̳̣̹͚̺̠̘̝͙̣̬̐̇͆̾̇̃͑̄̚ͅͅḘ̴̡̢̨͎̻̤̮̜͕̹̺̦͈̪̠͇͚̠̟̩̫̞͚̹͜͝S̴̢̯̮̣̘̼͚̹̬͎͈͈̞͛̾̓̐̋̽̎͌̌̈́̉̎́͌̉̒̚͜͜͝͝͠ͅĘ̸̡̢̙͔̥̣̰͎̖̠̝͍̹̞̫͈͈̟͍̗͍͎́̈̿̀͆͊̃̑͆͑̒̄́̆͛͗̚T̵̬̯̟̣̫̳̱͍̻̺̬̳̞͈̟̼̦̫̖̖͉̱̐͐̐͆̈́̃̋̔͊̒͛͆̓̓́̇͌͑̿̐̚͠͠͝]̶̭̻͙̞̐̔̓̆̐̔̊̃͘͝ [CONTINUE]

 

 

[CONTINUE]

 

———

 

You’re back at the golden star.

You just... did you just- was that real? Did you just... die? Was it really that easy? Did you really have to go to all these lengths to fall down here, when death was that easy?

 

Did you turn back time or were you just revived like you had an extra life in a video game? You supposed you would figure it out when and if you went back to that ‘puzzle’. You don’t think you’ve ever heard of a puzzle that includes a bear trap.

Nobody should be able to remember their own death. You can remember the pain. You can remember the sucking, crushing cold that came after. You hadn’t even been aware of yourself, or your body, or your thoughts. You hadn’t been a person.

And you were back. Whoopdidoo. You don’t think you’ve ever even seen a bear trap before, much less had one of its spikes five inches into your liver. That was informative, if not completely and utterly horrifying and traumatizing. You don’t want to go back. 

You don’t. 

You curl up in the snow, and hope no one will see you cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	37. Scientist Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans shows you his work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“don’t touch that.”

 

You yank your hand back from the beaker quickly as Sans shoves a pair of goggles into your hands. 

“put them on. also get some disposable gloves from the box over there,” he instructs you firmly, nodding his head towards the counter. You scurry over to obey him.

You hated how latex gloves felt. You weren’t allergic, but the clingy material was an incredibly uncomfortable texture for you. Whenever you put these on, you couldn’t wait to tear them off and throw them away when you were done.

You’d grin and bear it this time. Sans was showing you what work he did when he disappeared for days on end, and that was definitely worth it. Sans and his brother really were a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but you were determined to figure them out.

“ready to work?” Sans asks, and you nod excitedly. “cool. lab rules: don’t touch what i day not to touch. don’t put stuff in your mouth. keep things away from your face. got it?”

You nod again, clasping your uncomfortable hands together nervously. You wonder if he’s made any progress on the machine. You kind of hope he didn’t, but feel immediately guilty for it afterwards. 

Sans sighs, leading you through the maze of corridors that was the lab under the garage. It blew your mind how big this place was. It looked nearly as big as the ground level of the house itself.

“i really shoulda decked you out in safety gear the first time we came down here,” Sans admits. “this can be a dangerous place.”

You’re not sure how the sterile halls and cell-less rooms can be any form of danger to you, but you decide not to question Sans. He was the scientist, not you.

“Who all come down here to work?” You ask, after spotting one of Red’s jackets draped over a chair in a separate room. Was he down here? Would you talk to him?

“my brother isn’t a big fan of this stuff, but he comes down to help every now and then.” Sans starts, talking with his hands. “orange helps every now and then, and red comes down a lot of nights. pup’s only here sometimes. he... ah, doesn’t seem real dedicated to fixing the thing,” Sans admits.

Based on what Pup told you at Muffet’s cafe, you don’t blame him for not wanting to go back to his universe. You wouldn’t want to go back to a place like that either if you were him. You supposed this whole thing must be one big miracle to Pup and his brother. Red and Fell, too, maybe. 

“Made any progress on the machine?” You ask, leaning against a counter as Sans grabs a stack of papers and starts rummaging through them.

“no. i think i made it slightly worse, actually.”

“Oof, that’s a mood.” You’d been studying the new lingo from the internet, and you think you have it down pat. Sans looks at you as if you have three heads and just started chattering about sports.

“please, never say that again,” he decides, looking back at his stack of paper to continue looking for what he needed. “aha.”

Sans withdraws a sheet of slightly rumpled paper from the pile, holding it out like pure gold.

“What’s the paper?” You ask curiously, leaning over to peek over his shoulder. Sans scowls at you and turns it away from your view.

“nunya.”

“None of my business?” You ask sarcastically, brow raised. He doesn’t respond, and you take his silence as confirmation. You sigh. “Rude.”

Sans shrugs, dropping the stack of paper back onto the countertop. “you really wanna know?”

You perk your head up at the offer, tilting it to the side slightly in confirmation. “Do I have the clearance for that, Doctor?” You joke, grinning playfully.

Sans’s ever present smile twitches slightly. “don’t call me that.”

You flinch slightly at the change in tone, taken aback. You’d just been joking. “A-alright, I... I guess?”

Sans grabs two vials from the stand next to you and starts walking down the hall again. You push yourself up from your leaning position and half-jog to catch up to him, excited. If he was grabbing test tubes, that meant he was about to do some cool science stuff, right? You know he’d oppose you calling his work ‘cool science stuff’, but you didn’t much care. 

“So what are we doing?” You lean forward slightly as you walk, hands behind your back as you try to read his expression. Sans was a tough one to figure out. He was more likely to do the expression reading than anyone else was.

“we’re going to my personal lab. this is the general area, but my own work is in my office.”

“So do you consider this your job, then?” You question him. He never really went anywhere outside of the house most days, and while he could be a real lazybones, he did seem to disappear down here for days on end sometimes.

“something like that,” Sans mumbles, turning a corridor. “here we are.”

Sans flips a light switch on when he walks through the door to his lab, and you gasp in surprise. Everything was so clean, and white, and sterile. Some part of your brain is yelling at the other that you shouldn’t be here, that this is a _bad place_ , but you ignore it. You were safe with Sans. This was his own domain, not where you were held.

“I have to say, this level of cleanliness is unlike you,” you comment offhand, inspecting the dust-free cabinets. You’d only been in his bedroom once, and that was one time too many. All of the lazier skeletons had messy rooms, but Sans’s really took the cake. How on earth did he create a self-sustaining tornado, anyways?

“it’s normally a little messier than this,” Sans waves you off. “papyrus went on a rampage in here two nights ago. i could probably eat off of the floor now.”

“Really?”

“please don’t.”

You shrug, noticing a cluster of machines whirring and beeping in the corner of the room. They weren’t nearly as big or grand as The Machine, but they were still interesting.

“What do those do?”

“hm?” Sans looks up from his paper, and you have to suppress a snort at the small reading glasses he’s just slipped onto his face. You didn’t know he needed those. “ah, they’re thing counters. one of them counts stuff, and the other one stuffs counts.”

You didn’t understand what that meant, but don’t call his statement into question. 

“Neat, I guess,” you respond. “What kind of stuff?”

“...how best to explain…” Sans thinks to himself, flicking the corner of his paper absentmindedly with his thumb. “...you ever heard of the concept of the void?”

“Only the void inside of my heart,” you reply solemnly.

“haha, real funny,” Sans replies sarcastically. You’d didn’t know why he was so militant against sarcasm when he used it himself. “but really. the void. as in, the never ending soul crushing pit of darkness. that thing.”

“Oh,” you plop down in a swivel chair next to Sans’s workbench. “That thing.”

“it’s just a theory, really,” Sans explains, moving over to the machines you’d pointed out. “but i think it could exist.”

You spin the chair around to face him. “Really?”

“yeah,” Sans shrugs, “i don’t see why not, really. there’s apparently all these alternate universes, why _not_ an eternal hell pit?”

He starts flipping switches on the machine, and you watch as the sounds it’s producing change. Instead of a low hum, you can start to hear a higher pitched buzz. Lights activate on the machine in several places they weren’t before.

“ever heard of a geiger counter?” Sans questions you as he steps back from the machine.

“Yeah, it makes that clicking noise whenever it detects radiation.”

“this is like that, but for radiation of the _void_ kind instead.” Sans rubs his hands together in anticipation. “so like i said, the first one counts stuff, and the second one stuffs counts. as in, stuffs the counts into a database somewhere so i can read them later.”

“You’re really smart,” you comment, leaning on your hand. “Nice job.” You regard the machines for a couple more seconds before asking, “Does it work?”

“debatable,” Sans responds, tilting his hand back and forth uncertainly. “it sure makes clicking noises, but i’m not actually sure whether it’s detecting void radiation or the normal everyday background radiation.”

Right on cue, the machine starts to click. It’s fairly unsteady, and very slow. If the machine _did_ work, there seemingly wasn’t much void radiation in the background. You don’t know whether to be disappointed or pleased by that.

“It’s still really cool,” you breathe in awe. You could never make something like that in your wildest dreams. “What do you use the counts for?”

Sans looks hesitant before he replies. “you’ve gotta be at least a level four friend before i tell you that.” He glances back and forth between the machine and you, and you’re about to slump in rejection when he speaks up again. “luckily, you’re level five.”

What?

Really??

“Wait, for real?” You can scarcely believe what he just said. You? Someone that Sans considers a good friend? What planet were you living on again?

Sans lets out a short laugh. “yeah, for real.” At your floored look, Sans laughs again. “what, you expected differently? dude, you’re _living_ with me. you know practically all the house secrets by now.” Sans shrugs. “what’s one more?”

You supposed he had a point.

“So...what do you use them for?” You spin the swivel chair around and tuck your legs in to make it go faster. You really did act like a child sometimes.

Sans pauses, collecting his thoughts. “hypothetically, if there was a person in the void, what do you think life would be like for them?”

You shiver at the thought. “Cold. Lonely, I guess. You’d lose track of time pretty fast too.”

“...yeah,” Sans grimaces. “also completely and totally hypothetically, what if the person was your father?”

“I’d jump for joy,” you reply deadpan. It was no secret that you weren’t exactly the biggest fan of your parents. Sans snorts in laughter.

“okay, okay, you got me.” Sans waves you off, still chuckling. 

“So your old man’s trapped in the big bad void?” You ask, putting two and two together. “Sounds crappy. How will the machines help him?”

“they don’t do anything to pull him out, but they at least tell me when the layer of reality which houses the void is pressed up near to ours. when that happens, i have the best chance of saving him,” Sans explains. 

“Then how do you pull him out?” You stick a foot out to stop your spinning, leaning onto your hand. 

“that’s a bit more difficult,” Sans cringes. 

“Let me guess, The Machine?” 

“unfortunately.”

“That’s why you’ve been working so hard to fix it? To save your dad?”

Sans nods, shoving the paper he was holding into a drawer, taking off his glasses to fold them up and put them back in a case. He looked weird with them on, you were glad he put them away.

“red’ll probably be down soon. you can hang out with him if you want or go back upstairs, if you don’t want to watch me work anymore,” Sans offers. “it’s actually kind of boring. probably should have told you that beforehand.”

You wave him off impatiently. “Nah, this is fun!” You think of a question to ask him and stand up from the chair to let Sans sit at his work table. You sit on top of the counter instead, swinging your legs. You hardly noticed the uncomfortable latex on your hands anymore, a product of good conversation. “What was your dad’s name?”

“his name’s ~~w.d. gaster~~.” Sans looks at you expectantly, like he’s waiting for something to happen to you.

The clicking from the machine picks up exponentially.

“Sans! The- the machine...”

He looks at it curiously. “huh. never got _that_ reaction from it before.”

The name he said earlier... you can’t even remember it now. The thought of it slips out of your brain like soap, slipping out and sliding somewhere different, somewhere not here. It’s a strange feeling which you can vaguely recall feeling one time before, in the supply closet with Sans when you’d stayed at that hotel. You wonder how badly you have to disappear for nobody to be able to hold onto the sound of your name.

The clicking has stopped speeding up, staying at a steady pace which is so fast that it doesn’t even make individual clicking noises anymore. To tell the truth, you’re kind of unnerved by it all.

Sans pads over to the machines, peering curiously at the switches. “these are gonna be some fun results to go over, aren’t they, old man?”

The clicking is speeding up again. Some high pitched screeching noise is activated in the counting machine, and you back away to the opposite corner of the room. You know you shouldn’t be afraid of something Sans made, but you can’t help it.

“Sans... I think we should go. We can come back later.”

Sans looks at you uncertainly before glances back at the machine that way now starting to smoke and fiz with electricity.

“you go. red is probably down by now. take two rights, a left, and another right and you’ll be in his office,” Sans tells you. You aren’t sure about just leaving Sans like that, but nod anyway.

“Please be careful,” you beg him as you start to leave the room.

“heh. when am i not?”

You don’t give him an answer to that, instead closing his lab door softly behind you as his machine finally overheats and shuts down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
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	38. Night Terrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

_The transition between simulation and reality always hurt. It was a short zap to your brain as they connected or disconnected the cables, followed by a splitting migraine that followed for days in real time as your brain adjusted. The trouble was never telling when the switch happened, it lay in telling which of the two you were currently living in._

_You were so tired of not knowing what was real._

_You just wished you could sleep. It would be so much calmer, give you so much less anxiety. You just wished you could sleep._

_And never wake up._

You shoot up in your bed, hand immediately flying to your head to quell the pain which was already vanishing. It never existed in the first place, just an old memory.

You shiver.

Despite all of the horrid things you could be dreaming about, dreams about the simulation never failed to make you doubt what was real and what wasn’t. You take a moment to ground yourself. This was real.

You glance down at the ring around your finger. Good. You squeeze your fingers together almost painfully to feel its cold, smooth black glass pressing into your skin. 

You rub groggily at your eyes, mussing up your hair as you do so. You weren’t going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. You glance over at the digital alarm clock blinking its red digits down on your dresser. It was barely three a.m., and you already had to start your day.

You huff in annoyance and swing your legs over to the ladder connecting your bed to the ground, and drop onto the plush carpet.

You needed some apple juice.

You try your best to walk quietly as you transition from the third floor to the first, not wanting to wake your housemates. You don’t know if Papyrus is even asleep, but you don’t want to bother him anyways. He probably had better things to do than to deal with your chronic nightmares.

You pour yourself a glass of apple juice from the fridge. When you go to put it back, a skeletal hand stops you from closing it all the way. Confused, you look back at its owner.

“hold up,” Red grins. “i think you forgot something~” he teases, grabbing a bottle of maple syrup and dancing it towards your face. You grit your teeth and smack the plastic bottle away with a dull thunk, finally closing the fridge. Normally you’d be all for his jokes, but you really weren’t in the mood at the moment.

“No thanks,” you reply, gesturing towards your juice. “I’m good.”

Red shrugs. “suit yourself.” He replaces the bottle into the fridge and grabs himself a small bottle of mustard, which he begins to drink greedily. You gag slightly. You didn’t like mustard when you _weren’t_ actively drinking it. “so what has you up at a time like this?”

You frown, sitting on the kitchen counter with your drink. You take a tentative sip from your glass, glancing to the side abashedly.

“Nightmares.”

Red’s grin slips slightly, and he boosts himself up onto the kitchen counter to sit next to you. 

“what kind?”

You glance at him nervously. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” you inform him, clinging to yourself. “You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“nah,” Red brushes you off. “wasn’t asleep in the first place.”

You look at him like he just sprouted two heads. “You? Not sleeping?” The four lazier skeletons slept all the time during the day, you would assume that the same happened at night.

“heh, yeah…” Red scratches at the back of his head in thought. “sleep a lot when i shouldn’t, cause i can’t really sleep at all when i should. it’s probably a problem.”

“Do the others do the same?”

“i think sans does, but orange and pup sleep like rocks. like babies?” Red makes a face. “like baby rocks. i don’t think papyrus and boss sleep hardly at all to be honest, and i honestly have no damn clue about blue and black.”

You smile softly, taking a sip of your apple juice. “Trying to wake Orange is like trying to wake the dead. Well… I guess you _are_ skeletons, so I guess you kind of would be the dead?”

“hey,” Red protests. “i’m perfectly alive.” He raps a fist softly against his leg. “see? solid. trying to wake the dead would entail trying to shake awake a pile of dust.” He laughs, but you don’t really understand why. Dust was their version of a corpse, right? Of course, Red has always had a morbid sense of humor. 

You grimace, tapping the edges of your cup absentmindedly with your fingernails. You liked the house at this time. It was dark, and warm, and you could wander all the halls alone if you wanted. Despite your liking towards being alone, you can’t help but feel glad that Red came down and saw you. Talking helped after dreams like you just had. Made you feel more real.

“course, i can’t help but notice that you dodged my question, sweetheart.”

Your cheeks heat up at the combination of being called out and the pet name. You drink more of your juice to cover up your embarrassed state. When you finally pull away from your mug, Red is still waiting for a response. You sigh, wiping fat your mouth with your sweater sleeve, and answer him.

“The facility.” 

You keep it short and sweet. You didn’t really want to go all that in depth with Red, he probably had enough to worry about than the fact that the human living in his house had chronic nightmares.

“...alright,” Red responds slowly. “what happens in them?”

You cringe at the exploratory question. You weren’t really one to share this kind of stuff.

“I- I don’t really think it’s all that… all that important,” you tell him. You finish your apple juice and set the mug down next to you, leaning back on your hands.

“bullshit.” You jump a little at the swear, somehow not expecting it despite Red’s brash personality. “of course it’s important.”

“In what way?” You ask helplessly. “They’re just dreams.”

Red scowls. “dreams that are still hurting you.” 

“I’m fi-”

“please remember that you’re up at three in the morning, sipping apple juice and sitting on a kitchen counter with a skeleton as we speak. you are far from ‘fine’,” Red corrects you, making direct eye contact with you. You glance to the side.

“Whatever you say.”

“hey.” Red grabs your arm as you move to hop down and spend the rest of your early morning holed up in your room. “i mean it. i mean, it’s not like i’m some spokesperson for emotional honesty, but i’m fucked anyways. please tell me?”

Despite your dislike of his invasion of your privacy, you understand the good intent behind it. He really did just want to help you.

“If I tell you...” you tuck your knees up to your chin, “promise not to tell the others I haven’t been sleeping?”

“...i won’t tell them,” he affirms. You believe him.

“F-fine. You win. I have terrible awful dreams at night like a five year old. Mostly about the thought that none of this is real and I’m still back there. Happy?”

“why would that make me happy?”

You shrug. 

“what else do you dream about?”

You frown. “They made me…” you grimace. “They made me kill animals. For practice. I-I don’t… I never wanted to-” 

Your voice chokes. There was _so much more_ that you’d dreamed about, but you can’t make yourself force the words out. Your vocal cords refuse to comply. You ball your hands up into fists and feel the heat rushing to your cheeks and stinging at your eyes in frustration.

Red hugs you.

You cry.

You sob. You hadn’t realized just how much you needed to cry. It probably wasn’t healthy just how bottled up your emotions were.

“it’s okay.” Red attempts to soothe you with soft shushing sounds. You start to hiccup as you cry, which makes you cry harder in embarrassment.

None of this was okay.

None of this was ever okay.

You sob harder, returning the hug and resting your forehead on Red’s shoulder. His sweater was soft and smelled like mustard. You weren’t the biggest fan of mustard, but somehow it was comforting.

“I- I’m sorry,” you hiccup. “I’m getting- making your sweater wet.”

He brings a hand up to pet at your hair comfortingly. You shiver at the feeling. How did they always know how much you loved having your hair pet. You curl up into the hug.

“it’s _okay_ ,” he repeats, and you might even start to believe it.

How could he be so kind when you knew what his world was like? Did he even act like the same person back where he came from? Was this really him?

You don’t care at this point.

Red’s seen you have a breakdown twice now. You bury your face deeper into his coat when you realize that, trying to hide your embarrassment. You didn’t like crying in front of others. Even if they never said so, you _knew_ that they were judging you. 

But here you were, sobbing hysterically on the kitchen counter and clinging to a short skeleton who smelled of mustard.

When did your life get so _weird_?

Your crying slows down slightly, and you take a few heaving gasps before pulling yourself back from the hug. You settle a hand on his shoulder to hold yourself up as you mop up your face with your other hand.

You really cried a lot in this house, didn’t you?

“you wanna go back to bed?” Red asks quietly, staring down at the ground. You shake your head.

“No. I don’t think I could sleep in that room anyways. Too big and too empty right now.”

Red glances to the side before fixing you with a look. “you can sleep in my bed if you want.”

“W-What?!” Out of all the offers Red could have given you, you would never have expected that. 

Red shrugs. “yeah, i don’t see why not. i’m not usin’ it at the moment. you look exhausted.”

You feel exhausted. You run a tired hand down your face and hop off of the counter, running your cup under the kitchen faucet and placing it to your side.

“I… I mean- I guess? If y-you’re offering, and all.”

Red grins. “great. c’mon.”

A little taken aback, you follow him back upstairs to the sixth door in the second floor hallway. You’d been in his room before, but it was weird visiting it so early in the morning. You’d always assumed that he slept heavily.

Red opens the door and pads inside, closing it behind you before standing by his bed.

His room was just as much of an actual dumpster as last time, though you think the trash tornado lost some of its garbage. You hesitate slightly before collapsing, exhausted, onto his bed. It was warm and the sheets were soft. You suspect the cleanliness of Red’s bed is due to Papyrus’s strict sheet-washing regime.

As you close your eyes you can hear Red starting to leave the room, and can’t help but be upset by it. Hadn’t you said earlier that the main drawback to sleeping in your room was the lack of other people? You have an idea, but it’s probably a mildly stupid idea leaning towards utterly moronic.

You speak up anyway. 

“Do you- would you like to… to stay?”

Red stops, turning abruptly in his spot and fixing you with a confused look. 

“stay?”

You pause before answering. “Yeah… I don’t… I don’t really wanna be alone right now.”

Red lets out a puff of air that might have been disbelieving laughter, and sticks his hands back into his pockets. “really? you want _me_ around?”

You almost feel offended on Red’s behalf. Red had no place using that scorning tone when talking about himself. 

You smile, pulling the sheets back up to cover the bottom of your face. “Sure.”

This time you _know_ that Red is laughing as he takes his shoes off and sits on the bed next to you. 

“you’re insane, you know that?”

“If this is insanity, then I don’t want to be sane,” you respond with determination. “Sounds much less fun in my opinion.”

She he lays down next to you, pulling the sheets over him. Almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, he’s already started making a small snoring noise. You can’t blame him, the bed is absurdly soft.

The room itself is actually pretty cold, due to the change of seasons cooling the room down. You huddle further into the blankets to try and reclaim some measure of warmth for yourself. You didn’t realize how tired you really were until you were in this bed. Having someone next to you only amplifies the sleepiness factor by ten, so you close your eyes and try to sleep.

When you finally wake up a couple hours later, you are confused for a couple seconds before remembering where you are. 

Then you realize the position you’re in.

Red has an arm wrapped around you and his head in your shoulder, snoring gently. You’re curled into the fetal position with your head resting against his chest, which slowly rises and falls as he breathes. Once again you have to question the logistics of someone who doesn’t have lungs, breathing, but quickly get over it.

You can hear the low hum of magic in his chest, a soft thrumming that resonates throughout his body. Like with Papyrus, there would be no way to hear it if you weren’t laying your head on his chest. Somehow the sound feels exactly like him, despite it just being a hum. Probably due to it being _his_ magic. Magic was as unique to a person as their hypothetical fingerprint.

You try to pull back and sit up, but Red’s arm tightens around you and you are pulled back. You glance at his face before giving in. He looked so peaceful. So relaxed. It took you until now to realize that even his laziest expression when he was awake wasn’t relaxed at all. You wonder how long it’s been since he’s had a good night’s sleep.  
Red was like a space heater, just exuding warmth. It was a cold morning, so against your better instincts, you decide to stay in bed.

You sleep all the way until noon, when Fell comes in and starts screeching at you two for being so lazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	39. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus finds a new passion! You talk with Fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
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When Papyrus rushes up to you excitedly, waving his hands around as he practically vibrates with joy, you have to put your book down to see why he’s happy. He almost looks adorable. He stops in front of your chair, still bouncing as he shakes your shoulder hard enough to make it feel like your brain is bouncing around in your skull.

“FAYE!! FAYE!!!!”

You put two hands out to stop his unintentional assault, then respond.

“What, what????”

“THE AMBASSADOR, MY BEST-HUMAN-BREAKING-THE-BARRIER-FRIEND, FINALLY MANAGED TO NEGOTIATE A BILL ALLOWING MONSTERS TO BE POLICE OFFICERS!!!”

“Wha?” You didn’t even know that was a thing they were trying to do. 

Why was Papyrus so excited about this, besides the continued liberation of his people? There had to be more to this, you’d never seen him practically vibrate over the ambassador’s work. He was kind of adorable when he was excited, a light flush over his cheeks and an even bigger grin than usual.

“OK OK SO I KNOW I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BUT THAT WAS BECAUSE I FIGURED THAT THIS WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED BUT I REALLY REALLY WANT TO BE A POLICE OFFICER.”

“Woah, really? Why?”

“OH! WELL BACK UNDERGROUND I WAS VYING FOR THE ROYAL GUARD AND THIS IS BASICALLY THE CLOSEST THING TO THAT UP HERE!!” Papyrus stops, speculative hand on his chin. “YOU HUMANS HAVE NO SENSE OF STYLE WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW. ROYAL GUARD SOUNDS SO MUCH COOLER.”

You laugh, shutting your book and placing it to your side. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I think England might have a royal guard, though.”

“WHY WOULD I GO TO ENGLAND WHEN EVERYONE I KNOW IS HERE??”

You shrug. “I dunno. You seem really excited about this whole thing.”

“I AM!!!! I WILL BE SIGNING UP FOR THE ACADEMY RIGHT AWAY! I FEEL BAD FOR MY FRIEND UNDYNE, WHO YOU HAVE NEVER MET. SHE WAS CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, BUT SHE ALREADY HAS A JOB.”

“Couldn’t she just quit it if she wanted to be a cop that bad?”

“UNDYNE NEVER QUITS ANYTHING EVER. BESIDES, I THINK SHE REALLY LIKES HER JOB!! SHE’S A PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER! KICKING CHILDREN’S BUTTS INTO SHAPE AT A TORTUROUS LEARNING ACADEMY IS RIGHT UP HER ALLEY!”

“She sounds wonderful,” you giggle. “Although I would hate for her to be my gym teacher.”

“WHY? DO YOU NOT WANT TO BE TOTALLY RIPPED??” Papyrus’s face is aghast at the idea.

“If you see me running you should probably run too because something big is chasing me,” you reply in a deadpan tone.

“THAT SOUNDS TERRIBLE! YOU NEED TO START RUNNING WITH ME IN THE MORNINGS. IT WILL KICK YOU RIGHT INTO SHAPE!”

“Papyrus I don’t have any running gear. Also I would rather die before I run mornings.”

“AFTERNOONS?”

“No, Papyrus.”

“EVENINGS?”

“ _No_ , Papyrus.”

“I WILL WAKE YOU UP TOMORROW MORNING,” he decides. “EXERCISE IS IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW.”

You groan in anticipation of what was to come. “Papyrus that sounds like a terrible idea. I would be the worst running partner.”

“IT SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL IDEA,” He defends, fists on hips. “I DO NOT KNOW WHY I DID NOT THINK OF IT BEFORE! ENDURANCE WILL HELP YOUR MAGIC TRAINING!”

Your head perks up, interested. “Really?”

“REALLY REALLY!”

“I give a hesitant… maybe.”

“GREAT! I WILL GO TELL BLUE THAT YOU WANT TO JOIN US TOMORROW!”

“Papyrus wait-” you try to stop him, but has already sprinted out of the room. Curse his over enthusiasm. 

Despite knowing what hell you’ll have to endure tomorrow, you physically can’t stop the large smile on your face. 

 

You don’t know why. 

 

———

 

“I HEARD YOU WERE RUNNING WITH THE PEPPY LOSERS TOMORROW,” Fell sneers as you enter the living room. You look at him confused.

“Yeah, I guess so. Why?” You decide to ignore the insult he threw out at Papyrus and Blue. There was probably no changing his attitude. You’d be the same way if you grew up in the world he did.

“JUST AN ATTEMPT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND AND HAVE YOU RUN WITH BLACK AND ME INSTEAD,” he responds aloofly, typing something out on his phone. Another poem? You wonder if you’ll get to hear it.

“You and Black run also? Why not with Papyrus and Blue?”

“PLEASE. THEY CONSTANTLY SHOUT SELF-LOVE EVERY TWO STEPS. IT IS BORDERLINE OBNOXIOUS. I THINK THEY GOT TWO NOISE COMPLAINTS LAST TIME THEY RAN.”

“Self-love? Like what?”

“IF YOU WANT TO BE CONSTANTLY SCREAMING ‘I AM GREAT, I AM AMAZING’ AS YOU UNDERGO TREMENDOUS PHYSICAL PERFORMANCES, GO AHEAD AND RUN WITH THEM.”

That did sound pretty terrible. You didn’t think you were great _or_ amazing, and you weren’t about to go shouting it throughout your entire neighborhood. You’d already (sort of) made a commitment to Papyrus’s group, though. You didn’t want to back out of it now, you’d break his nonexistent heart.

“I kind of already told him I’d run with him, though.”

Fell shrugs. “SUIT YOURSELF, FAYE.”

“I could take turns maybe?” You’re a little scared of what physical hell Fell’s group might put you through, to be honest. Fell and Black didn’t seem like the type to pace themselves, and you were really out of shape. After you’d escaped the facility, you hadn’t wanted to physically train for the rest of your life, and you were vaguely shaped like a potato as a result.

Fell considers this for a moment before replying. “THAT COULD BE… ACCEPTABLE.”

“Also I don’t have any running gear. At all.” You’d neglected to ask for some when they bought you new clothes, mostly on purpose. You hadn’t wanted exercise ever again.

“PAPYRUS WILL PROBABLY HAVE YOU BORROW HIS JOGBOY SHIRT. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU COULD WEAR FOR PANTS, HIS HIPS ARE QUITE NARROW… ALSO YOU NEED SHOES.”

“Why would Papyrus let me wear one of his shirts?”

“BECAUSE HE LIKES YOU, YOU DOLT.” Fell rolls his eyelights.

You’re suddenly incredibly flustered. “Wh-what?” He probably meant platonically, right? You can’t imagine anyone liking you like that. 

“YOU HEARD ME. ALSO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TELLING PAPYRUS I TOLD YOU THAT OR HE WILL NEVER HAVE A SECRET TELLING SLUMBER PARTY WITH ME AGAIN. THEN I WILL HAVE NO BLACKMAIL TO HOLD OVER HIS HEAD, AND IT WILL BE ALL YOUR FAULT.”

He… what?!

You didn’t-

You hadn’t-

He wHAT?!

You nod shakily to Fell and hurry to dash out of the room. You didn’t need to embarrass yourself more than you already had. You’d need to bury your face in your bed for an hour or two to stop the red mess your face currently was.

When you trudge back out of your room after cooling down, there’s a new pair of running shorts and a pair of jogging shoes by your door. There’s no note.

 

———

 

“OKAY SO WHEN A MOMMY MONSTER AND A DADDY MONSTER LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH-”

“Wh”

“EXCUSE ME FAYE I AM TALKING TO DOOMFANGER.”

“Are you giving your cat The Talk??”

“YES?? SHE NEEDS TO KNOW, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, AFTER ALL.”

…

…

…

“...nevermind.” 

You’d come back to Fell’s room after you cooled down, intent on getting more information on Papyrus. It probably wasn’t very nice of you to go behind his back like this, but you didn’t consider yourself a very nice person anyway. 

“WHY DID YOU BARGE INTO MY ROOM AGAIN? I AM TRYING TO DEVELOP DOOMFANGER’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD.”

“Uhh…” you shift nervously from foot to foot, avoiding eye contact. “What else… did Papyrus tell you?”

Fell grins deviously, mischievous glint in his eyelights. You think you may have just crawled into the belly of a beast. Fell seems way too eager to spill all of Papyrus’s secrets. He clears his throat, then gestures for you to sit on his bed. “SIT DOWN. I HAVE A LOT TO TELL YOU.”

“A lot? How often does he talk about me?”

“AT THESE SLEEPOVERS? QUITE A BIT ACTUALLY. I THINK HE MAY BE SLIGHTLY INFATUATED WITH YOU.” Fell avoids eye contact with you.

“Why?”

“HUH?”

“Why would he be?”

Fell furrows his brows. “DO NOT TELL ME THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER ‘I AM RUBBER YOU ARE GLUE’ SESSION. IT RUINS YOUR VOICE, AND AS MUCH AS I ENJOY SILENCE, I DO NOT ENJOY IT AS MUCH FROM YOU.”

“?????????”

“HOW DID YOU SAY THAT WITH YOUR MOUTH?”

You shrug. You were quite the anomaly. “What’s with all the compliments? I thought we were talking about Papyrus.”

Fell continued to avoid eye contact, staring perserverently at his bedspread instead. He ignores your question when he responds.

“PAPYRUS SAYS THAT HE THINKS YOU ARE REALLY BRAVE AND STRONG AND DETERMINED. ALSO THAT YOU ARE QUITE PRETTY, PARTICULARLY YOUR EYES.”

Aaaand your face was a flustered mess again. You don’t know if you believe that Papyrus said all that. You can’t think of any good reason that someone would talk about you in that light if they didn’t have some motive to do it.

“N-no, I don’t know if-”

“BELIEVE IT, FAYE. HE IS KIND OF IN LOVE WITH YOU.”

Fell really looks flustered, a red flush covers his cheekbones and sides of his head. His confident persona seemed to quickly evaporate once he started relating compliments to you. “And you?”

“...G-GET OUT.”

You regard him softly for a few moments. “If you really want me to. But I don’t think you do.”

Fell glances to the side in embarrassment. You don’t blame him. He probably felt really on the spot right now if your hunch was right.

“...YOU ARE TOO KIND, YOU KNOW. IT IS NOT HEALTHY.”

“Maybe where you come from that would be true, but it isn’t the case here.”

“I AM NOT SURE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT.”

“It’s okay. I can be sure enough for the both of us.”

You lean in and wrap your arms around him, squeezing gently. He noticeably tenses for a few moments, and you’re worried that he’s the kind of person who dislikes being hugged. Your worries are dismissed when he relaxes and reciprocates the hug. You don’t think you would have been able to hug him before now, when he was almost vulnerable. 

You scoot a little closer to him, until your chest is almost flush with his as you bury your face in his scarf. It was unfair that any of them liked you. There were better people to like. You’ll take advantage of the opportunity anyway, you’re kind of trash like that. You tighten your arms around him again, and he makes a small pleased sound in the back of his throat, almost akin to a purr.

“I’m sorry I don’t talk to you as much as some of the others,” you apologize quietly, head on his shoulder. “I really do care about you, you know.”

Fell laughs softly. “FUNNILY ENOUGH, SOMEHOW I CARE ABOUT YOU TOO.”

His scarf smelled like spicy cinnamon and just a hint of the body spray he was not-so-inconspicuously hiding under his nightstand. You laugh a little, feeling your eyes begin to sting at the emotions you could feel starting to bubble up in your stomach. 

“When Papyrus talks to you about me… it isn’t just one-sided, is it?”

“...YOU LIKE MY CAT. AND YOUR HAIR IS SOFT.”

You’ll take that as a yes.

“If you want to touch my hair more often, you can,” you tell him. “You did a good job on it on Halloween. I trust you not to mess it up.”

“OH NO PLEASE DO NOT TRUST ME. I WILL DEFINITELY MESS IT UP SOMEHOW.”

You giggle and pick your head up to look at him. “No you won’t. You’re the Great and Terrible Papyrus after all.”

The blush on his face deepens, and he practically looks like a cherry at this point. “YOU- YOU USED MY REAL NAME.”

“It really does have a nice ring to it,” you muse. He looks at you in absolute wonder.

“HOW DO YOU EXIST?” He breathes.

“Huh? I dunno, go back to the talk you were having with your cat, I guess,” you joke, bopping him on the nasal bone. His face twitches slightly at the sudden poke, which is somehow more adorable than everything he just said combined.

“PFF, NO, I MEAN…” Fell’s sentence trails off, but you think you understand what he was trying to say.

“I only give compliments to people who deserve them,” you reply seriously. “And I say that you’re wonderful.”

 

You lean in and give him a soft peck on the cheekbone.

Fell’s entire body locks up as he processes what you just did. When he’s finally done rebooting, he clutches you so close to your chest that it actually hurts your ribs. You wince, and pull back slightly, but otherwise continue to let him hug you. Despite his claims that he didn’t require affection, you think he might actually be kind of touch starved. You think you might be the same in that regard.

Just like Papyrus and Red, Fell has that ever present hum running through his body. All of the hums are slightly different from each other, whether in pitch, or in frequency, or in volume. Fell’s was louder and quicker and higher than even Papyrus’s.

You sit with Fell until he’s ready to let you go. You sit with Fell until dinner time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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	40. And Now A Message From Our Sponsors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another special chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“2981, that was not a request.”

“2981, _now_ , please.”

“2981, this is your final warning.”

“That’s it, cut all pain blockers from 2981’s programming and administer electric shock 53Alpha.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

“...”

“...hm.”

“...”

“Good. 2981, repeat that once more.”

———

 

Were you even you anymore?

It didn’t feel like it.

With every passing day, you grew dizzier. With every passing day, you forgot more and more. With every passing day, you lost the will to do what you wanted instead of following orders.

With every passing day, you lost more of your determination.

It would be easier to just curl up into a ball and take it. To do what they wanted you to do, kill who or what they wanted you to, enforce the laws they wanted you to. It would be easier to just stop.

To just give up.

To let yourself disappear entirely.

There was truly no hope for you. You could feel your grip on reality fading, days blending together like soupy mush, unable to tell simulation from reality and morality from wrongdoing.

You were so tired of fighting it.

You were so… exhausted.

It wasn’t like you had a way to escape. You were accompanied by a Coat or a Trainer everywhere you went. Even the few times they dressed you in uniform and tasked you with keeping their peace, you had a minder. You were a student. A trainee. An unpaid intern of a task force you didn’t sign up for. You were tired of fighting for your independence. Maybe you really were just a number.

What was your real name again?

Did it even matter?

You think you’ve killed a person or two people and endless quantities of animals and targets but you aren’t sure, you can’t be sure. You can’t count the number of casualties you’ve caused on your fingers and toes.

One of the new Coats they’ve brought in is really sweet. He doesn’t seem like he really wants to be here, if you’re being perfectly honest. He looked… horrified, almost, when he first saw you and the rest of your unit. You aren’t exactly sure why. If he was a Coat, then shouldn’t he be pleased?

Then again, they’d told you how awfully sentimental monsters were. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stomach work with test subjects. You see him sometimes cleaning test tubes and making sure nonhuman-related experiments go well, but to your knowledge he’d never touched a test subject.

You wonder why they let him keep his headphones on him. All the other Coats had to stick to their dress code, with hardly any room for deviation, yet the new Coat always seemed to have a pair of electric green headphones sitting around his neck or on his head. You wondered how he could even use them, considering he didn’t have ears. Though perhaps earbuds would be worse.

He seemed kind. If you weren’t a specimen, you would have liked to get to know him better. If the circumstances were different.

He was cleaning your cell now, trying to avoid eye contact with you, some kind of techno music playing from his headphones. Maybe bone wasn’t too great at muffling the noise as it traveled from the speakers to wherever he processed sound.

You decide to take a risk. You haven’t made conversation in a while.

“What song is that?”

You don’t think he’ll punish you for asking a question, he seemed somehow different from the others. You aren’t even really afraid, just curious.

He freezes in his tracks, head turning slowly to blink at you in surprise. It a few seconds before he stutters a response.

“y-you can talk?”

You tilt your head to the side in curiosity. “Yes.”

He drops his broom with a clatter on the linoleum flooring, hands up in a frightened position. “they didn’t… they didn’t tell me you guys could talk.”

“W-why wouldn’t I be able to?” You're actually surprised he’s letting you speak to him, you’d expected him to ignore you at the most. 

“you weren’t supposed to be a person,” he responds in a hushed tone. “they told me-”

You curl in on yourself in the corner. That was right. You weren’t a person. You’d forgotten. You needed to stop speaking. Mages weren’t people. They didn’t get to talk. 

The Coat glances to the side, clenching his teeth together with stiff shoulders. He takes a sharp breath in, then releases it just as quickly. With robotic motions, he picks up his broom, fist all too tight around the handle.

“i’m sorry.”

He passes the broom from one hand to the other repetitively. 

“i… have to go now. i’ll be back later.”

You don’t believe him. 

He leaves. It feels colder.

 

———

 

The next day is simulation day. When they’d first started, you’d been so good at keeping track, you’d been excited, even. Now you didn’t care. The days blended together and repeated their dullness over and over and over and over again. You were so tired.

Getting hooked in hurt. They’d surgically implanted an actual port into your skull for the process, so it didn’t hurt as much as it used to, but the sharp shock of electricity through your skull was always there. Then came the slow fade out of reality as the simulation loaded, and in you went.

It always felt so weird in simulations to not have your ring. Since you were accustomed to wearing it day-in and day-out, the lack of a small bump around your right middle finger made the whole hand feel wrong. You hated the sensation.

You don’t know why they always forgot to include that little detail. Probably because you weren’t even supposed to have it in the first place, but you’d always been so good at hiding it during inspection. It was your key to reality. Maybe it was the whole point of these simulations, to confuse you into not knowing what was real and what wasn’t. At least you could parse it out.

It was another nightmare simulation. You hated these. It was always so much better when they gave you something nice— a day on the beach, a milkshake in a shop, stargazing under the trees, or even just a day at school with your friends. 

Even if you got out, you’d never be able to experience that last one again, would you? You were well past school age now. They’d stolen that experience from you.

You couldn’t find the energy in you to be angry.

The nightmare simulation was the same as it ever was. Someone or something was chasing you and wouldn’t ever stop, even as you stooped over to catch your breath or cough up blood because you been running so damn long. These sims were always so realistic. You could smell and see and taste and feel and hear everything that happened. On a good day you enjoyed a roast dinner. On a bad day you suffocated as black goo slowly invaded your nose and your throat and your ears.

You didn’t know what the point of all of this was. Maybe they were just cataloguing your behavior. Maybe they just wanted you to hurt. Maybe this was all part of the training. All you knew was that you were completely and utterly exhausted. You couldn’t wait for the day they declared you done and dispatched you out into the main force like all the other mages (children at the time of your arrival) had already been.

And then you were back in your cell with your ring. The most fucked up simulations were the ones where nothing happened. Where it was just a normal day at the facility, without your ring. But this was real.

The Coat was back.

“i heard you just came out of the sims.” He scratches the side of his face, wincing. “you know, they told me that you guys were in a vegetative state. they told me your weren’t people. still creeped me out to work with you guys.” His shoulders are tight and he’s messing with his headphone cord. “i don’t even want to be working here. i was offered the opportunity and my brother made me take it.”

“Why... are you telling me all this?”

He regards you calmly for a few moments before replying.

“because this isn’t fair.”

You stare down at the white linoleum flooring, bright in the harsh lighting of your cell.

And then he left.

You curl up in your corner and go to sleep.

 

———

 

“what would you do if you got out?”

The question takes you off guard. It takes you a while to respond, but when you do, your voice has a hoarseness to it that you didn’t recall being able to produce.

“I don’t know. Go to a concert. An aquarium. Travel, I guess.” You take a few moments to reconsider. “Or just stay put. Do whatever I want.”

He hums low. “sounds nice.”

Your back is to the outside of your glass cell, and he sits on the other side, back to you. It’s nice. You haven’t spoken to someone like this in years.

“...Yeah.”

 

———

 

“do you want out?”

The Coat brought you food, better than the nutritional bars you were normally given. You’d forgotten what ham tasted like, and you hadn’t realized just how ravenous for it you were. It minutes before it’s all gone.

“Excuse me?”

“do you want out?”

The rational part of your brain screamed *yes, you wanted out*, but the part of your brain that had been conditioned for six years was screaming the opposite. The Coats said you were almost ready. You were going to be joining the Magical Task Force soon. Tasked with keeping Their peace. Part of you embraced it, was ready for it.

You think his visits are the only thing keeping you sane. Keeping you *you*. You don’t know what you’ll become when he’s gone. You don’t really want to know.

“I... I’m not sure.”

He sets his jaw, standing up quickly. “tell me when you know.”

You nod, crawling back to your sleep corner. When you weren’t being experimented on, it was always best to just sleep and pass the time. Nothing really mattered anymore. 

Thinking about his... offer (was that an offer?) made your head hurt, like you weren’t supposed to be thinking of escape. They probably did something to you in those brain surgeries and simulations. They actively conditioned your soul during training, made you feel sick. You can’t bring yourself to care. There’s a thick layer of sluggishness over you, it took a lot just to have the conversations you had with that Coat.

Could you even trust him? Was this all one big trick, to test your loyalty? If you passed this test, would you be ready for the task force? Would you be done?

You were so tired.

You needed out of here, one way or another. 

At least you knew for sure that if you didn’t say anything, you’d be done soon enough. 

It was always best to just stay quiet.

 

The next day, they call you in.

They say this is the final procedure. This one is directly on your soul. You hate these. They burned and stung and felt even more invasive than the brain surgeries, like they were looking inside your being and plucking out what they wanted.

At least you’d be done.

You never saw anyone after they came out of these. Straight into the public eye they went, and your few friends in here were gone. You missed your sister. You wished your brother was still alive.

You were so tired.

They lead you to the table, and you lay down in compliance. You were ready for this to be over. You were ready to just... disappear. 

They strap you down and move to the room next door to start up the equipment. You’re separated only by a thick pane of two way glass. You brace yourself for the pain, closing your eyes in preparation.

“oh my god.”

You open your eyes as quick as lightening, focusing on the Coat that entered the room. He’s shifting from foot to foot, seemingly deliberating on what to do. Finally he stops and focuses on you.

“...fuck this.”

And he’s undoing your restraints. Your heart pounds in your chest, breath speeding up. Now you were both going to get in trouble! Everything would be better if you just gave in.

“c’mon, kid.”

“I’m not a child,” you mumble drowsily. The sedatives they gave you earlier were probably kicking in. You can’t hold yourself up on two legs when he pulls you to a stand.

Something twists. Something _shifts_. The world spins, and it hurts your head and you can’t breathe and

The blackness overtakes your vision.

 

———

 

“-CAN’T BELIEVE-“

“-TOOK YOUR WORK WITH YOU-“

“-THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANTED.”

You open your bleary eyes, wincing at the pounding migraine in your head. Your ear stung. When you bring a hand up to feel it, you feel the rough texture of bandages pressed to it. You think your tag has been taken out.

“she’s awake.”

“THIS ISN’T SAFE. WHAT IF SHE’S LIKE THE REST OF THEM?!”

“she isn’t. i took her out before they could finish on her conditioning.”

“DOES SHE EVEN HAVE A NAME?”

“yeah, m’lord. i checked her file before i took her out. her number was 2981 but her name is-“

“Puck.”

The two skeletons turn to you, shorter one with a frustrated expression and the Coat just looking bemused.

“that’s not what your file said.”

You struggle to push yourself to a sitting position, blood rushing through your head. “It’s what I say.”

“well then,” the Coat smiles. “i’m papyrus.”

“nice to meet you, puck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a Christmas Gift for you guys!! [Here It Is!!](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com/post/181390668074/in-honor-of-almost-300-followers-im-giving-my)  
> 
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)  
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>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	41. Running With Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go on a run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“WAKE UP!!!”

You jolt to sit up as your door is kicked in. Your eyes have that blurry sheen over them that comes from sleeping, so it takes a moment to focus on the intruder— Papyrus. Why was he in here? At a glance to the glass doors leading to your balcony, it was still dark outside. When you look at your alarm clock, you can see it’s only five in the morning.

The memory hits you like a train. There’s a lot to unpack as Papyrus marches over to your bed and looks up at you with a stern expression. You had agreed to run with him, hadn’t you? And, furthermore along that thought…

Papyrus liked you.

Like, _really_ liked you.

Your voice is still thick in your throat from sleep so your response comes out as a mumble.

“...Wazz happenin?”

“IT IS TIME FOR OUR RUN!” He announces loudly, and you cringe at the yelling so early in the morning. There was no way anyone in the house was left asleep after that.

“ _Papyrus_ , it’s time to sleep…” you glance again at your alarm clock. It was an ungodly hour in the morning to go on a run.

“RIDICULOUS! YOU HAVE TO GO WHEN IT IS STILL DARK OUTSIDE SO THAT THE TEMPERATURE IS LOWER!”

“It’s November. I think the temperature will be fine.”

“I WILL HAVE NO MORE ARGUMENT! BLUE IS ALREADY UP AND GETTING DRESSED, SO YOU SHOULD BE TOO!”

You sigh and slump forward. It was too early for this.

But the day you disappointed Papyrus was the day you died.

You huff, throwing your sheets off of you and swinging your legs off the edge of your bed. Your hair is a mess. You look at Papyrus with a withering expression that melts as soon as you see his bright smile.

Aw. How could you deny that face?

Even if it meant hours of running.

 _Hours_.

Ugh.

“Alright, alright,” you reply with a soft smile. “Gimme time to change.” You yawn widely, placing a hand over your mouth for good measure.

“YES!” Papyrus pumps a fist in a celebratory movement, and you smile a little wider in admiration. He looked so excited. “OKAYOKAYOKAY I WILL… WAIT IN THE LIVING ROOM?” 

Before you can get a word in for a response, he rushes out of your room and tugs the door closed behind him. It shuts so hard that the door frame rattles. You mentally apologize to the other members of your household for the noise. 

You don’t know how you’ve never been woken up by his morning runs before. You supposed you’ve always been a heavy sleeper, so maybe that was the reason. That, and the fact that Papyrus probably hasn’t had a reason to slam doors open and yell at sleepy humans who really just wanted to finish getting her last hours of recommended sleep per night.

 _Sigh_.

 

———

 

It’s fifteen minutes later when you drag yourself downstairs to meet Papyrus and Blue in the living room. You run into Fell and Black on their way out the door for their own run, and you’re surprised when they both wish you good luck. Why would you need good luck? Was something wrong with the way Papyrus and Blue ran?

“OH, YOU’RE READY!” Blue exclaims upon sight of you.

“READY TO GO?” Papyrus asks, and he looks like he’s practically vibrating with excitement. 

You hadn’t been unable to tie your hair up, and unfortunate byproduct of your hair being too short. Even with how long you’d spent growing it back out, it was only an inch or so above your shoulders. This had always been about the length you’d preferred when you still lived with your parents, anyways.

“I guess,” you shrug. You were wearing the running shoes and shorts you’d seen by your bedroom door yesterday. You highly suspected they were from Fell. As Fell predicted, Papyrus left you a tank top with the words ‘Jog Boy’ written on it with sharpie. It looked faintly worn, as if he’d had it for a while. The fabric was soft and comfortable, which showed that he took good care of it.

“GREAT!” Papyrus exclaims, clasping his hands together. He leads the way to the front door with Blue in tow, holding it open for the both of you. You thank him with a nod of your head on the way out.

Soon enough, you’re running down the street and already wishing you were dead. These two did not know the meaning of ‘slow jog to get you started’. They were running fast enough that you had to almost sprint to keep up with them. 

“COME ON, TWO MORE BLOCKS!”

“Papyrus it feels like my diaphragm is moving itself up into my throat.”

“PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY!”

“Papyrus no-”

“REPEAT AFTER ME: I AM GREAT!”

“I AM GREAT!” Blue shouts dutifully. You shoot Papyrus a look. He grins back.

“I AM AMAZING!” Papyrus continues.

“I AM AMAZING!” Blue repeats.

“...I a-am amazing,” you huff, words stuttery due to the staccato pace of running after the two speed demons and your loss of breath.

“LOUDER!!”

You grimace before complying. “I am amazing!!”

“LOUDER!!” Blue exclaims.

“I AM AMAZING!” You shout, nearly falling over from the use of breath that could go better to keeping you running. “Papyrus-can-I-please-have-a-break-now.”

“NO!!” He replies jovially. “WE ARE GOING TO RUN ONE HUNDRED LAPS, HOOTING ABOUT HOW GREAT WE ARE!”

You set your jaw and keep pushing in your almost-sprint, despite the part of your mind whispering that you needed to stop. Over-exerting yourself was the exact opposite of what you needed. 

You keep running, and it’s so familiar.

It’s almost like your surroundings melt away. You’re just moving, because you have to. You don’t have a choice.

You keep running, and you’re 2981 again.

You don’t feel the exertion anymore. Just your arms pumping and your feet slapping the ground and you’re moving. You’re moving like when they made you move. You’re moving like when you escaped.

You don’t even feel the hand on your shoulder when you’re finally stopped. There’s a shake, and you’re back.

You’re back in the middle of the road with Papyrus and Blue and you’re okay.

All of a sudden you feel the pain in your feet and the burning of your muscles. Your lungs are seizing in your chest and it’s hard to breathe, but you look up at Papyrus and Blue with wild eyes and messy hair.

Papyrus is saying something to Blue and you can hardly catch it. 

“-WILL TAKE HER BACK, FINISH YOUR RUN.”

Blue nods and you’re being picked up and held. You always seem to come back to this. You see Blue from over Papyrus’s shoulder as he takes you back from where you came, and he’s watching you two leave. Then you round a bend and you can’t see him anymore.

The seconds and minutes blur together until you’re on the living room couch with a cup of hot cocoa at your side and Papyrus fussing over you.

“HOW LONG WERE YOU LIKE THAT? WHY DIDN’T I NOTICE SOONER?” He frets, tucking a blanket around you as you slowly come back from your daze.

“ ‘s not your fault,” you mumble lazily. His head snaps towards you and your sudden speech, eye sockets wide.

“OH MY GOD YOU ARE BACK THANK THE STARS.” Papyrus smooths over the blanket he’s so carefully placed around you. “I WAS SCARED I HAD MESSED YOU UP FOR GOOD.”

“ ‘m fine.”

“NO, YOU ARE NOT,” Papyrus scolds you, before softening. “I AM SO SO SO SORRY!”

“ ‘s okay.”

“NO IT IS NOT!!! STOP IT!!”

“It’s fine,” you reply insistently, almost completely lucid now. “I should’ve just stopped.”

“NO, I SHOULD HAVE LET YOU TAKE A BREAK WHEN YOU ASKED!”

“I shouldn’t have been such a pansy,” you respond with a small giggle.

“STOP IT!!” Papyrus exclaims. “THIS IS ABOUT ME FUCKING UP MAJORLY, NOT YOU MESSING UP!”

Well, you’re awake now. “I don’t even really know what happened.” You’d been running, and now you were here, with Papyrus apologizing profusely to you.

“YOUR EYES WERE GLAZED OVER AND YOU WERE NOT LISTENING TO EITHER OF US AND IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!” Papyrus insists. “I- I AM SO SORRY.”

“I thought I was back _there_.” you say softly, eyes cast downwards. “Back… you know where, I guess.”

“I NEVER WANTED YOU TO FEEL LIKE YOU WERE BACK THERE.” Papyrus wraps his arms around you in a hug. His head is tucked into your shoulder, and you lean into him. You forgive him already. “THAT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO THIS ENTIRE TIME.”

“I know,” you whisper. Your cheeks heat up in a flush, butterflies churning your stomach. Normally you wouldn’t feel either of those things at just a hug, but knowledge of his feelings for you makes the closeness something different. You like it.

He pulls back, hand on your cheek. “I DON’T WANT THAT FOR YOU.” 

You pull his hand away. “It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t mean it.”

“STOP SAYING IT WAS ALRIGHT!” Papyrus exclaims, squeezing you. A flood of warmth washes over you at his affection. You smile at him.

“It was, though,” you insist. “I don’t blame you. And you brought me back as soon as you realized what was going on.”

Papyrus shakes his head quickly. “NO. IF I HAD DONE WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO, IT NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED AT ALL.”

“Papyrus, you can’t know everything. You can’t _stop_ everything.”

“I CAN SURE HECKING TRY!”

“I never even told you that they made me run until I physically couldn’t anymore. It’s really not your fault. You were just trying to push me out of my comfort level, even if it probably was a bit much for a first run.” 

He’s slightly above you, arms wrapped around you and face close. You’re a little worried that you might knock over the hot chocolate next to you, but there are more important things in front of you right now.

“I PROMISE,” Papyrus begins, and if you didn’t know better you’d say you almost heard a hint of determination lacing his voice. “AS LONG AS I AM HERE, I WILL TRY MY BEST TO NOT LET YOU FEEL THAT WAY AGAIN.”

The promise weighs on both of you for a moment or two before you move. You grab him by the scarf and pull him down to your level. You look him in the eye for a fraction of a second before leaning in to press a kiss to his mouth. He’s warm and you can feel the surprise he feels, by the way he stiffens and his breath catches. The arms around you are squeezing you even tighter, and breathing would be an issue if you weren’t currently expending what was in your lungs to kiss him.

There’s a moment where you’re worried that you read him wrong, that Fell was lying to you and that this was all one big joke. Where you’re afraid that you’re feelings for him are actually entirely unreciprocated, and as soon as he gets his bearings about him he’ll boot you out the front door and force you to find housing elsewhere. The moment is dispelled when Papyrus takes a breath and presses a hand to the back of your head and reciprocates, as best as he can with no lips. It feels like sparks of magic dancing across your lips and making them ever so slightly numb.

You put a hand to the side of his face and kiss him, pressing so hard against his mouth that it almost hurts. His fingers dig into your hair and he sighs into your mouth. You can hear your heart in your throat and somewhat hear his soul buzzing in his chest despite you not resting over it. Then you run out of breath and have to pull away.

You’re looking into his eyes for his response to your action, and aren’t let down by the small, breathy ‘wowie’ he releases. You laugh a little, quietly, and press another kiss to his nasal bone. 

You back up a fraction, grimacing when you see that your quick movements have completely knocked over your hot chocolate. Papyrus doesn’t seem to notice, and observation that takes you by surprise. He was usually very observant of when things were a complete and utter mess. Like you.

“I DON-” 

You place a hand over his mouth to stop whatever slew of self deprecation he was about to unleash. Only you were allowed to self deprecate.

“Stop.” You remove your hand.

“O-OKAY.”

“I care about you, Papyrus. I’m not going to stop caring about you just because you made a mistake.” You place another kiss on his cheekbone, which is flooded with a blush.

“I CARE ABOUT YOU TOO, YOU SILLY HUMAN.”

You hug him tightly. You can’t believe he’s real at all. That someone existed to take you out of your hell and make your life so wonderful.

“Thank you.”

“OF COURSE! IF IT IS NO TROUBLE, UHM…” Papyrus hesitates. “CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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	42. A Lesson in Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus comes to visit you very early in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

You don’t know whether to laugh or cry (of laughter) when you see Papyrus dressed up in something that looks like it was pulled straight from the 80s, rocking back on forth on the balls of his feet in your doorway. It’s the bright, eye-bleeding neon colors and the _leg warmers_ he has on and the complete lack of any sense of modern style that has you clenching your throat tight to prevent any kind of laughter from bubbling up and escaping. 

It’s just so _funny_.

“W-why are you wearing that?” You ask, eyes starting to water from the sheer effort of not busting out in loud, cackling laughter. You’d been in a lab for six years and even you had a better sense of the times than he apparently did. He was wearing _basketballs_ on his _shoulders_.

Papyrus falters slightly, but bounces back just as sprightly as ever. “THESE ARE MY DATING CLOTHES!” He announces spectacularly, and also loud enough that you hear someone banging on the ground from underneath. How did they even reach high enough?

“Papyrus, it’s _five in the morning_.”

Papyrus doesn’t look like he understands the gravity of what you’re saying. “YES? I FAIL TO SEE YOUR POINT??”

“ _Papyrus_ ,” you stress, “some people actually like to sleep.”

“LIKE TO SLEEP??? HOW OBSCENE!” Papyrus exclaims. “THE SUN IS UP AND EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD BE TOO.”

“Papyrus I also happen to be one of the ones who enjoy sleep.”

“HOW COULD YOU?! AFTER YOU KISSED ME AND EVERYTHING, YOU TRAITOR!” Papyrus yells, but you think it’s more of a joke than anything else. You hope.

You sigh. “Papyrus, as much as I don’t want to disappoint you, and believe me, I don’t-”

“-I BELIEVE YOU-”

“-you really need to give me some warning before waking me up this early.”

“EARLY?” Papyrus laughs. “I GAVE YOU AN EXTRA HOUR TO SLEEP IN.”

The look on your face could probably melt iron. You’d known Papyrus was an early bird, but four-in-the-morning early? That was unacceptable. You were going to force this skeleton to get some actual rest one day. You hoped he didn’t have some kind of medical condition that prevented him from sleeping properly, like insomnia. That would complicate things even further. He stayed up pretty late as well, only retiring to his room around midnight to get some ‘beauty rest’.

Four hours of sleep.

Four.

You could barely function on six, and that was how many you were guaranteed at the facility. More sleep led to better productivity in training, was the general idea you think. Just enough for the energy they needed and not quite enough to make you complacent and relaxed. Enough to keep you on edge but not enough to fully satisfy your sleep deprivation.

Needless to say, you’d done a lot of sleeping since you got here.

“Papyrus, no. This is another trauma thing. I need sleep,” you emphasize. Papyrus seems to understand immediately, an apologetic look on his face.

“GOLLY GOSH, THAT REALLY MUST NOT HAVE HELPED WITH EVERYTHING YESTERDAY THEN, HUH?” 

“Nope,” you respond, emphasizing the ‘p’ with a pop of your lips. “It’s fine, you didn’t know. I don’t tell you everything, even if you know most of it. Would be kind of difficult to share every last detail.”

Papyrus nods sympathetically. “I APOLOGIZE! I WILL COME BACK IN…” He trails off, seemingly looking for an acceptable time estimate. Wow, he really didn’t know much about how much sleep people really needed. You do some quick calculations.

“Three and a half hours. That’s the earliest I’m willing to wake up.” Even then, it’s a stretch. On your laziest days you’ll wake up at around ten or eleven and laze around until almost noon, unless you had a nightmare. If you had a nightmare it was downstairs for juice and a book at whatever time you woke up, even if it was inhumanely early. You just… couldn’t put yourself back to sleep after that.

Papyrus gapes at you. “YOU WAKE UP AT _EIGHT THIRTY_?? YOU ARE WASTING YOUR LIFE AWAY IN THE WARM EMBRACE OF A SLEEP ADDICTION! MY BROTHER IS A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE.”

That actually earns a chuckle. “It’s not your brother. It’s just how much sleep humans need to function properly. I don’t know about monsters.” You scratch the back of your head. “What did you think I was doing in the mornings before I came downstairs?”

Papyrus looks embarrassed at being called out. “I DON’T KNOW!!!” He flaps his hands in frustration. “SOMETHING NOT SOCIAL!”

You shake your head in the humor of it all, beginning to shut the door. You love him, but you need your sleep. “See you in a bit.”

“-WAIT!”

You pause and slowly open the door again, raising a brow in anticipation. Oh boy. This was going to be another Papyrus morning, wasn’t it? Even if you didn’t really mind Papyrus mornings, (because duh, _Papyrus_ ), they were just so early. “Yeah?”

“THIS WHOLE SLEEPING THING SOUNDS RATHER IMPORTANT TO YOU,” He begins, wringing his hands nervously. “SO…” He’s deliberating on his next phrase, stretching it out. You can almost hear him trying to reword his request. It feels like minutes before he finally pushes out what he meant to say, and you can’t help but feel a swell of pride in him, even if he didn’t normally have such troubles saying things. “WILL YOU TEACH ME? HOW TO SLEEP, THAT IS.”

“You don’t. Know how. To sleep???” This sounds like something very important that he probably should have known by now.

“ER, NO. I MOSTLY JUST LAY DOWN UNDER THE COVERS AND WAIT FOR THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD TO KICK IN.”

“Papyrus… you have insomnia. Like, _really bad_ insomnia.” You’re running your hand through your hair anxiously at the revelation. “Jeez, I um, I really don’t know how to ‘teach’ someone to sleep.” Papyrus nods, apparently expecting that answer.

“O-OKAY! THANK YOU FOR UM… TALKING TO ME! AND… KISSING ME YESTERDAY? THAT WAS QUITE NICE.”

“-But I’ll try!” You interrupt before he can leave. “I’ll try! I might not be able to make you sleep but I can at least make sure you’re relaxed, and um… have your eyes closed?”

“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CLOSE YOUR EYES?”

“...yes.”

“OH YEAH! I HAVE NOT SLEPT IN SO LONG THAT I COMPLETELY FORGOT!”

This was going to be harder than you anticipated.

You close the door behind him and usher him towards your bed. You guess you aren’t getting anymore sleep today. You’d survive. 

“So just uh… lay down, I guess?”

Papyrus climbs the ladder to your bed, doing as told. The bed is too short for him and his feet stick out of the blankets even when he pulls his knees up. Human sized bed, skeleton monster sized person. Well, one type of height on a skeleton sized person. You bet one of the Sanses would be right at home in that size of bed.

“NOW WHAT?”

“Well, what do you normally do?”

“I PASTE ON MY BIGGEST GRIN AND WAIT FOR MORNING.”

“...don’t do that.”

Papyrus sighs dejectedly. “FINE.”

“Um… close your eyes and even out your breathing, make it slower. Some scientists say that slower breathing is half of falling asleep,” you comment thoughtfully, chewing your nails down to the bed.

“OKAY. AM I DOING THE SLEEP YET?”

“No. Doing the sleep requires no talking and more… sleeping.”

“SANS TALKS IN HIS SLEEP ALL THE TIME,” Papyrus replies. “HE SAYS THE WEIRDEST THINGS.”

You perk up, attention immediately grabbed. “Like what?” This could make for good teasing.

“OH, JUST THINGS ABOUT UM…” Papyrus cracks his eye sockets open to regard you with a confused look. “ACTUALLY I’M NOT SURE. SOMETHING SCIENCY. I THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH ~~W.D. GASTER~~.”

The name slips out of your head as soon as you hear it. It a dizzying feeling. It takes you a second to remember what you were talking about. You only feel this way sometimes, like in the hotel supply closet when Pup sent that code word, or in Sans’s lab, when he mentioned his father's name. You feel kind of dizzy, a little fuzzy. You can’t focus on much.

“Sorry, can you repeat that?”

“SANS SLEEP-TALKS ABOUT ~~W.D. GASTER~~.”

The weird static feeling grows in your head again. You aren’t sure why you’re here. Were you… tucking Papyrus into bed? No, this was your bed. You don’t really know what you were just saying, like the words were stolen from your mouth.

“Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Papyrus quirks a brow at you. “YOU AREN’T PLAYING A TRICK ON ME, RIGHT?” He rolls his eyes. “I’VE ALREADY TOLD YOU. HE DREAMS ABOUT OUR FATHER, ~~W.D. GASTER~~.”

“Oh, um, yes, your dad.” You hold onto this thought for about a second before you suddenly feel very confused. Why was he talking about this? It wasn’t important. Now that you think about it, you can’t quite recall what exactly you were talking about again. Papyrus was always pretty silly. Where were you? 

“Where did we leave off?”

Papyrus looks nervous, almost anxious. “DID YOU… HEAR A WORD I JUST SAID?”

You nod your head emphatically. “Of course! You said, um…” you shake your head to clear the fuzz. “Something about wanting to fall asleep, right?”

“NO, AFTER THAT.”

It’s your turn to be confused. “After that you just asked me if I heard you.” 

Why was Papyrus acting like this? It was one thing to be a little insistent, but this was getting a little annoying. Not that Papyrus was annoying, of course. Just the situation. You still wanted to smooch his bony face. Maybe later.

“NO. I DID NOT. I SPOKE ABOUT MY FATHER, THE CREATOR OF THE CORE AND THE FORMER ROYAL SCIENTIST OF MONSTERS, ~~DOCTOR W.D. GASTER~~.”

You don’t know why he’s being so quiet. He hasn’t said anything since the last time you spoke, and the fifteen seconds of dead air are making things really awkward. “Dude, if you don’t want to talk to me, it’s all for the better. It’s sleepy time. Goodnight.”

Your head feels weird like you’ve had one too many drinks and you could tip over at any moment. You feel warm and kind of fuzzy, and almost like you’re here and you shouldn’t be. You feel like you should leave now. You don’t know _why_ you should leave, but you definitely should. Yeah.

You turn to head out your door.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

“I dunno. Downstairs?” You scratch the back of your head.

“...WHY.”

You shrug. “Does it matter? I don’t really think it’s all that important, to be honest.”

“PLEASE STAY.” Papyrus is eyeing you with a mixture of confusion and fear. He doesn’t look like he’s afraid of you. More like he’s afraid for you.

“Alright, fine.” You grin. “You’re good company.”

A small blush materializes on his cheekbones. “OH! WHY, THANK YOU! I HAPPEN TO FIND YOU TO BE VERY GOOD COMPANY AS WELL!” His expression changes to one of worry. “ARE… ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE FEELING ALRIGHT?”

You wave him off. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Is it really all that important anyways?”

Papyrus looks scandalized. He shoots into a sitting position, hands clutching the blankets in his frustration. “YES! IT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT! ESPECIALLY SINCE I REPEATED THE SAME SENTENCE OVER AND OVER AND YOU CANNOT SEEM TO RETAIN ANY MEMORY OF IT!”

“I’m forgetting stuff? Weird.” You don’t know why you should care, or why he does. It just… wasn’t all that important. Not worth bothering over.

“QUESTION: WHAT DID I JUST SAY?”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I must have missed that. Was it important?”

Papyrus flings the sheets off of himself in fury. “ _YES, IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT AND I AM ACTUALLY VERY SERIOUSLY CONCERNED FOR YOU!_ ”

You feel the sudden urge to leave again. You don’t know why you should stay here, it probably wasn’t all that important anyways. Papyrus collects himself, seemingly shoving all his questions to the back of his mind and staying quiet. He slides off of your bed and onto the floor, coming over to pet your hair absentmindedly.

“FAYE,” he says quietly. “WILL YOU EXCUSE ME?”

You step back. “Oh, yeah, of course. Where are you going?”

Papyrus cringes. “I NEED TO TALK TO MY BROTHER.” He passes you to go to the door, but when his hand is on it, he turns back to you. “ACTUALLY, CAN YOU COME WITH ME? IT IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT,” he assures you. That eases some weird fuzzy part of your brain, makes the static emanating from it lessen. You nod. 

“Yeah, sure, of course!” You motion for him to lean down, and give him a peck on the nasal bone when he does so. It was a little weird that he interrupted the sleeping session like that. There hadn’t been any warning, one second you were making sure Papyrus didn’t talk in his sleep, and then he rocketed to the door to demand to leave.

It didn’t make any sense. As Papyrus leads you downstairs to the garage, you shrug to yourself. 

 

If you couldn’t remember it, it probably wasn’t all that important, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	43. Lab Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They try and figure out what’s wrong with you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“this is really weird,” Orange remarks, after Sans says something that you can’t hear. It’s like your ears are filled with white noise, with static. You want to press your hands to your ears and make it stop. The feeling starts to fade with time, as the skeletons in the room bustle around with equipment and papers. It looks like Papyrus and Sans were able to round up just about everyone, with the exception of Blue. 

“what are the readings on the void particle gauge?” Pup asks offhandedly, rummaging around in a stack of papers. “i wanna see if they match up with previously recorded levels when we mentioned his name.”

“okay, okay, one second, let me trigger the response again,” Sans replies quickly. He snaps his fingers in front of your face multiple times to get your attention. Your vision is unfocused and he looks fuzzy around the edges as a result. “hey. do you remember anything we’ve been talking about in the three hours we’ve been down here?”

“H-huh?” Your voice is groggy and hoarse. “We haven’t been down here three hours,” you insist. “I’ve only been here for like five minutes.”

He nods to Pup who flips a switch on the machine in the corner of the room. You can vaguely remember Sans’s description of its function, though even that is starting to blur in your memory. The machine starts to whir, lights flashing as it does its job.

Clicks begin to resound from the machine, picking up speed as the static in your head grows in intensity. It’s almost like the two are feeding off of each other, building each other up into a crescendo of pain and noise in your head that makes you dig your fingernails into your scalp and pull on your hair. You squeeze your eyes shut and try to calm your violent, wracking breaths as your brain _screams_.

“Stopst- _stop STOP_!”

Pup’s eye sockets widen and he immediately flips the switch on the machine back off. He hurried over to where Papyrus and Sans are fussing over you with a clipboard. 

“are you okay?” Pup has an expression of frenzied concern. Your fingers are still in your hair and you shake your head quickly, heaving breaths starting to slow again. The feeling of static begins to retreat like last time. 

Pup wordlessly shows Sans the clipboard while keeping his gaze focused on you as you recover and slowly sit up again. Sans grimaces, does a few calculations, then passes the clipboard to Papyrus. Papyrus only glances at it for a couple of seconds before he reacts.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT.”

“ _papyrus_ ,” Pup exclaims. “language.”

“POT, MEET KETTLE.”

“yeah,” Sans jokes. “who are you, captain america?”

“I REALLY DON’T THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR JOKES, SANS.”

“yeah… you’re probably right.”

“ANYWAY… THOSE COUNTS ARE EXTREMELY HIGH.” Papyrus lowers the board to look at you. “I DON’T THINK I HAVE SEEN COUNTS THAT HIGH SINCE…”

“What’s… what’s happening?” There’s a strong niggling sensation in the back of your mind that tells you that none of this is important at all, that you need to leave the lab immediately and stop talking about all of this. It contradicts your stronger thought that nearly everyone in the house wouldn’t be down here helping you if it wasn’t important.

Papyrus puts the clipboard on a nearby counter with a small clack, and peers over you nervously. “THIS IS... REALLY SANS’S THING. I CAN UNDERSTAND THE BASICS, BUT I’M MORE OF A… PUZZLES KIND OF GUY. A DEFENDER OF THE INNOCENT KIND OF GUY. SANS HAS THE PHD.”

“aw, thanks bro.”

Papyrus smiles. “OF COURSE! WHILE I MAY BE GREAT AT MANY THINGS, I HAVE TO CONCEDE THIS POINT TO YOU.”

“how thoughtful.” If you know Sans, and you think you do, he’s being completely and totally unironic. He wasn’t the type to use sarcasm, especially against his own brother. It wasn’t in his taste.

“what didja find?” Red reenters the room from when he left last with his brother in tow.

“NOTHING MUCH,” Black scathingly replies from the corner of the room. “EXCEPT FOR THAT THERE’S NO WIFI DOWN HERE THAT ISN’T PASSWORD PROTECTED, AND SANS WON’T GIVE ME THE PASSWORD.”

“oh, if that’s all, i’m real fucking great at cracking codes, here, give it over-”

“-no, that’s _not_ all.” Sans glares at Black, whereas Pup stays notably silent. He turns back to Red with the clipboard. “c’mere, look at these.”

“WHERE DID THE ABNORMALLY TALL CARROT GO?” Black asks, arms crossed. 

“i’m not abnormally tall, you’re just abnormally short,” Orange counters, staggering back into the room with an armful of various components and other machinery parts. You hadn’t noticed him leave in the first place.

“HOW _DARE_ YOU-”

“I MEAN, IT’S NOT AS IF HE’S WRONG,” Papyrus reasons. “YOU REALLY ARE THE SHORTEST OF US ALL. YOUR BROTHER IS THE TALLEST.” He scratches his chin. “KIND OF IRONIC, ACTUALLY.”

“don’t bring _me_ into this,” Pup replies nervously.

“MUTT, GET OVER HERE,” Black orders. “I AM GOING TO CUT OUT YOUR MIDDLE THIRD SO YOU CAN BE AS SHORT AS THE REST OF US.”

“middle third, m’lord?” You thought he’d already kicked the habit of calling his brother that, but it seemed to come back when he was nervous or being yelled at. 

“OF COURSE. I CAN’T CUT OFF YOUR HEAD OR LEGS, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. THE MIDDLE THIRD HAS TO GO. IF YOU’RE NICE ABOUT IT, MAYBE I’LL EVEN USE ANESTHESIA.”

Pup swallows. “m’lord, i really don’t think that’s necess-”

“He was joking, Pup,” you assure him. You didn’t talk to Black much, but the time you’d spent doing so had given you insight on his sense of humor. It was blacker than black coffee, like his name. It probably wasn’t great for Pup’s mental health, despite that.

Red finally looks up from the data to address you. “sweetheart, what the fuck is going on with you?” 

“she doesn’t seem to be able to remember anything related to ~~gaster~~. watch, she’ll forget this entire conversation in a few moments.”

“Forget what?” This statement earns you an exaggerated gesture towards you from Sans. You speak on the defensive. “Sorry, you guys are just acting really weird. I’ve only been down here fifteen minutes and you’re acting like the world is ending. Is it really that important, anyway?”

“doll… it’s been _three hours_.”

You follow his gaze to a clock on your wall, and the dissonance between what you remembered and what reality was telling you sends a sharp jolt through your head. You yank your eyes away from the clock. You have to shake your head back and forth to fully clear it, before focusing on Red again.

“Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Red grits his teeth and glances at Sans, who merely looks at him with an ‘I told you so’ expression. “this is so weird.”

“yeah, that’s what i said,” Orange nods. “it’s like something, or _someone_ is retroactively changing her thoughts and perceptions when we mention anything related to ~~gaster~~. sometimes it’s like she can’t hear us at all, or she’ll suddenly stand up and try to leave the room. most of the time she just forgets everything and has some kind of fuzzy feeling in her head.”

“DO YOU THINK THAT FEELING COULD BE ON PURPOSE?” Fell questions. “IF SHE CANNOT ORGANIZE HER THOUGHTS IN THE FIRST PLACE, SHE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE ONE OF THEM SUDDENLY VANISHING.”

“overall…” Sans remarks, voice heavy with dread, “she’s reacting almost exactly like everyone else underground.”

“HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?” Papyrus asks. “SHE NEVER EVEN MET HIM. WHY WOULD HER MEMORY BE WIPED AT THE MENTION OF HIM?”

“ ‘s probably a way to stop anyone at all from organizin’ any kind of thought about it, period. the void is tricky, and from what i’ve seen back where I came from, probably somewhat sentient. not in the way we understand sentience, but _somethin’_ ,” Red speculates, anxiously clicking a pen open and closed repetitively. “i don’t like this. she’s just gettin’ worse, we need to cut down talk about the-scientist-who-shall-not-be-named until we have some way to counteract this.”

“YOU COULD THEORETICALLY MAKE SOME KIND OF SHIELD THING OUT OF THE CONCENTRATED VOID THAT PUP SECRETLY HAS IN HIS PERSONAL LAB AND DID NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT.” There goes Papyrus, somehow knowing everything about everyone.

“ _hey_ , i trusted you,” Pup whines.

“that could work,” Orange affirms, trying to match components to the void particle gauge. “would need a stabilizing element though.”

“well where are we gonna get something like that?” Red asks petulantly. “the only thing that can allow void to exist outside of its natural environment is pure, unfiltered determination.”

“WE COULD MAYBE GO BACK DOWN TO THE LAB UNDERGROUND? DIDN’T DOCTOR ALPHYS MENTION USING IT?” Papyrus suggests.

“DAMN, YOUR ALPHYS USED STRAIGHT DETERMINATION ON MONSTERS?” Fell asks incredulously. “EVEN MINE WAS NOT THAT CRAZY, AND SHE DRUGGED MY VERSION OF UNDYNE TO GET HER TO DATE HER. _AND IT SOMEHOW WORKED._ ”

Sans raises a brow. “i think she threw it all out after confessing. was pretty unethical for her to keep it considering where it came from.”

“well then, what now?” Pup mumbles in exasperation.

 

“WHY DON’T YOU JUST TAKE A LITTLE OF FAYE’S?” Black asks, just barely peeking up from his phone.

 

…

The entire room bursts into uproar.

“WE CAN’T JUST DO THAT-”

“-that’s incredibly fucking invasive and-”

“-no way i’m just a simple engineer i didn’t sign up to claw open someone’s soul-”

“-BLACK I WILL STRANGLE YOU-”

“-m’lord, i really don’t think this is a good idea-”

“-yeah.”

Papyrus whirls and turns on his brother. “ ‘YEAH’??? WHAT IN THE STARS ABOVE TO YOU MEAN BY ‘YEAH’?!”

“i mean ‘yeah’.” Sans looks indecisive. “it’s the only way with what we have. it won’t hurt her and she’ll replenish it over time, even faster than a normal human would since she’s a mage. we won’t need much, a little determination goes a hell of a long way.”

“BUT IT’S PART OF HER, WE CAN’T JUST TAKE IT!” 

“no different from a blood donation, really. except we take even less of whatever soul trait than what doctors take of blood. harmless as long as someone is trained with the proper equipment. and i am. you watched me working with- um,” he glances at you, “the-scientist-who-must-not-be-named, but you were probably too young to remember.”

“I AM SIDING WITH PAPYRUS,” Fell announces. “SHE IS CLEARLY NOT IN THE RIGHT MIND TO AGREE TO THIS, AND EVEN IF SHE DID IT SEEMS VERY UNETHICAL. IT WOULD BE AKIN TO REACHING INSIDE OF HER CHEST AND TEARING OUT HER HEART IN ORDER TO TAKE BLOOD. NEVER MIND THE… IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH A PROCEDURE.”

Pup looks conflicted. “if it’s really painless…”

“IT WILL BE,” Black barks at his brother.

“it’s the only way we can make something to protect her from this stuff,” Sans argues. “we don’t even know the long-term damage this is causing her. sure, she’s bouncing back from it now, but if we don’t take action to stop it from happening again, who knows?”

“i hate to agree with sans on this one, but…” Orange grimaces. “only with all of us present. and we need to have a clear discussion with her when she’s actually fully lucid.”

“that’s fair,” Sans agrees. He sighs. “look, i’m conflicted about this idea also, but it’s probably our best solution. you can’t just order this shit off eBay, and we don’t know any other human with this concentration of determination.”

“THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THAT,” Papyrus huffs, crossing his arms. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him this upset. It’s shame you can’t hear anything they’re saying, you’d really like to chip in. Maybe it wasn’t all that important? “FAYE’S SOUL IS NOT PURE DETERMINATION.”

“you said it was,” Orange refutes.

“I SAID HER PRIMARY TRAIT WAS. SHE ALSO HAS FRECKLES OF KINDNESS DOTTING THE SURFACE.”

“why you looking so closely at her soul, anyway?” Red raises a brow in mock speculation.

Papyrus splutters, cheeks flushing. “I WAS TRAINING HER, I WAS NOT LOOKING BECAUSE I-”

“STOP! ENOUGH,” Fell intercedes. “SQUABBLING LIKE CHILDREN IS NOT HELPING.”

Sans runs and hand across the back of his head in thought. “we’ll have to use the dt extractor underground in that case. normally we could just do it here with a syringe, but there would be no way of knowing how diluted the concentration was with kindness.”

“how high does the sensitivity go on that sucker?” Red boosts himself onto the lab counter, kicking his legs in the open air.

“high enough.”

“I STILL OBJECT TO THIS IDEA BASED ON MORAL AND ETHICAL BOUNDS.” Papyrus has already marched to you and picked you up. You’re tired now and can’t hear anything. You nuzzle into his scarf and close your eyes, arms wrapped around him. “SHE IS NOT A LAB RAT.”

“i know that, i’m just trying to help-”

“CALL ME WHEN YOU NEED HER. WE ARE LEAVING.” Papyrus storms out of the general lab, slamming the door behind him as he goes. 

Fell glances at many faces around the room who are looking pointedly at him. “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? I MAY AGREE WITH HIM BUT I AM ALSO NOT GOING TO STORM OUT LIKE A CHILD. ALSO, FUCK YOU.”

“fuck you too, boss.”

An awkward silence falls over the room. It’s only broken when Orange speaks a few minutes later.

“i’ll… get started on the blueprints for the shield.”

Sans barely looks at him before listlessly responding. “yeah. yeah, yeah. um. i’ll just…” He doesn’t finish his sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
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	44. Dating... Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go on a date with Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

“Yeah, I’d love to go on a date with you.” 

It was a little out of left field, but Papyrus had just picked you up and whisked you away from the lab. You weren’t sure why. You had a strong feeling that it didn’t matter. But then he’d immediately asked you to date him? Either way, you were sitting in a very nice hotel and you didn’t want to question it.

“OH, GOODIE! WHERE SHOULD WE-”

“-Papyrus, hold on. Where is this coming from?” Of course you wanted to go, but you felt extremely out of the loop. You weren’t even going to bother asking about what happened down in the lab. 

“...DO YOU ACTUALLY NOT WANT TO GO?” Okay, now he sounded sad.

“-No no no, of course I want to,” you reassure him, “it’s just that it was a little out of nowhere. You still haven’t explained why you made us leave the house.”

Papyrus hesitates before responding. The way he speaks makes it sound like he’s carefully rephrasing something he’s said before. “WE ARE STAYING IN A HOTEL UNTIL THE OTHERS UNDERSTAND THAT THEY CANNOT USE WHAT BELONGS TO OTHER PEOPLE AS THEY WISH.”

That didn’t explain a lot, but you had a feeling that was gonna be the best you would get out of him. “We’re just staying here indefinitely? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really nice hotel,” you respond, bouncing a little in your sitting position on the bed, “but they only gave us one bed, and the others are stubborn.”

Papyrus runs a hand down his face and sighs. “I KNOW YOU’RE RIGHT, BUT I AT LEAST WANT TO STAY AWAY FOR A DAY. TO PROVE A POINT.”

You really aren’t sure quite what this was all about. If it was about the ringing static sensation in your head and the feeling that you kept forgetting things back at the lab, you don’t know if you’d actually remember a full explanation.

He looks stressed. He was upset in the way that made the bone between his sockets scrunch up a little, even though you weren’t sure how that worked. It was very clear that he wasn’t upset with you, just with whatever the situation was. You decide to put your questions to the side for a moment and comfort the skeleton who’d been taking such good care of you and your emotions.

You wrap your arms around him, forehead resting on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay.”

It’s not long before he hugs you in turn, his own face in _your_ shoulder. “I KNOW.”

“We’re gonna go on a date and then we’re gonna go home tomorrow. Is that okay?”

Papyrus sighs. “YEAH… I GUESS.”

You smile, pulling back from the hug. “Good! Where are we going?” It was weird to comfort him for a change. He was always the one comforting you.

“UH… I DID NOT THINK IT OUT THAT FAR.”

“Oh? That’s alright.” You think for a moment. “Are you thinking somewhere outside or inside?”

Papyrus takes a moment to consider his choices before responding. “OUTSIDE.”

You feel a small prick of anxiety at the thought of being outside where anyone can see you. You were wanted. You take a breath and dismiss it, developing agoraphobia wouldn’t help matters. You trusted Papyrus to make sure you were safe.

“So… there’s a park, I think? Or if you really wanna go all out, we could drive to the beach?” The thought of driving down to the beach in Papyrus’s red convertible was very enthusing, even if it was November and the water would be freezing. Then you could go swimming and check out the shops on the pier… yeah. That sounded nice. 

“THE BEACH SOUNDS LIKE FUN,” Papyrus responds, echoing your thoughts. “...YEAH! LET’S GO TO THE BEACH.”

“It’s like half an hour away, I think? Close enough that we can keep our spot in the hotel,” You shrug. 

“HECK YEAH!” Papyrus exclaims. “I THINK I HAVE ONLY BEEN TO THE BEACH ONE OR TWO TIMES, THIS SHOULD BE FUN!”

You grin. “Yeah, it’ll spite the others. We can go back with all the stories of how much fun we had.” You didn’t know what the did in the first place to make Papyrus angry, but he didn’t get upset lightly.

Papyrus pumps a fist triumphantly. “YES! SPITE!! I CANNOT WAIT TO RUB OUR OUTING IN BLACK’S GREMLIN-LIKE FACE! HE LOVES THE BEACH, EVEN IF HE WON’T TELL ANYONE.”

“If he won’t tell anyone, how do you know?”

Papyrus’s smile takes on a slyer turn. “I HAVE MY WAYS.”

“Oh! Another problem that I only just realized because I’m an idiot,” you scramble to say, noticing Papyrus’s narrowed eyes at the word ‘idiot’, “I don’t have a swimsuit, even at home.”

“GOOD THING I’M FILTHY FUCKING RICH, HUH?”

 

———

 

The wind through your hair as Papyrus drives down the highway is even more victorious when the slight smell of the ocean permeates the air. You can’t help but break out into a wild grin, excitedly darting your head back towards Papyrus, who sports his own large smile.

“I THINK WE ARE NEARLY THERE!” He exclaims over the wind passing over your faces. It’s hard to hear him, but it would be difficult for his voice not to carry. 

His arm is resting on the center console of the car’s leather interior, and you can’t but lean over and give it a light squeeze. Papyrus was so thoughtful. It was actually kind of strange how little your relationship with each other changed after the kisses. You still hugged, you still talked about your emotions, and you still trusted him with your life. You just sometimes also kissed, apparently. You actually weren’t quite sure what you were relationship-wise. 

You also had literally zero complaints about where this was taking you, aside from maybe some blooming feelings for a couple of the others, but you were going to push those thoughts down into a deep dark corner of your mind and focus on Papyrus. Nothing good would come of you being too selfish to focus on only one person, you were sure about it. 

Papyrus pulls into a parking lot a couple hundred feet from the beach. You can almost taste the salt in the air. Papyrus sits there for a moment, staring at the shore.

“Papyrus?” You’re greeted with a hum of recognition and a glance in your direction. “It’s time to get out now,” you remind him.

That seems to break Papyrus’s trance. “SORRY! THE WAVES HERE ARE QUITE MESMERIZING!”

You giggle. “I agree, that’s why I’d like to watch them much closer.” You tug on his arm as you stand up, and he follows suit. You were already in your swimsuits, courtesy of Target restrooms, which you’d changed in after buying your swimsuit, so you go straight to the shore, where other humans and monsters already are.

You’d been sure to find a beach near a large concentration of monsters, to avoid the type of people who would ruin your outing. Monster-human couples were still fairly rare, so it was a necessary precaution. Could you and Papyrus be considered to be dating, now? You feel a flush rise to your cheeks at that thought.

Papyrus’s face lights up when his flip flops touch the sand. You guess the beach never got old when your species had been trapped underground for millennia. You smile at him.

“Last one to the water’s a rotten egg,” you tease, taking off in a sprint before he can process your statement. You know when he starts running as well, he’ll overtake you easily, but it’s fun to pretend you have a chance.

Sure enough, he quickly passes you with a pace that kicks sand up onto your shins. You laugh, doubling down on your speed. Of course, he wins, running right into the water.

“NYEH HEH HEH!! WHO IS THE ROTTEN EGG NOW?”

You meet him in the cold water, laughing when he splashes you. “Me, I guess!” The water was cold due to the November chill, but not so cold that you couldn’t grin and bear it. You were having too much fun to complain.

“NYEH! INCORRECT!” Papyrus yells exuberantly, picking you up swiftly and plopping you onto his shoulders. It was crazy how strong he was. “IT IS I WHO IS THE ROTTEN EGG!”

“Pfffft, why?” You brush hair out of your face, resting your chin on his skull as you sit on his shoulders. He was carrying you like you were lighter than air. He always did.

“BECAUSE!!!!” Papyrus responds. “YOU CANNOT BE A ROTTEN EGG BECAUSE YOU ARE FAR TOO BEAUTIFUL.”

You bury your face in your arms, cheeks hotter than fire. “Papyrus, _please_ ,” you groan. 

“PLEASE WHAT?” Papyrus bounces to jostle you. 

“Please don’t compliment me,” you mumble.

“WHAT IS THAT? SAY MORE? ALRIGHT!”

“Papyrus-”

“-YOU ARE VERY SMART AND KIND AND DETERMINED AND ALSO GORGEOUS.”

“-no, I’m really-”

“AND I WILL NOT HEAR ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY!”

You sigh. “...fine.”

“NOW! WE SHOULD CHECK OUT SOME OF THE SIGHTS ON THE PIER, YES?” Papyrus asks, letting you back down into the water. “WE CAN COME BACK AFTER.”

“Oh, okay,” you grin. You exit the water and dry off with the towels you’d stolen from the hotel you were staying at. You’d bring them back. You kind of wanted to see the look on the cleaning staff’s face when they saw unexplained sand in the towels.

“WHERE TO FIRST?” Papyrus asks as you step out of the sand and onto the boardwalk.

You hum thoughtfully. “I think… I remember being here before. There was this candy store…”

Without hesitation, Papyrus offers his hand. “ONWARDS!”

There’s a flutter in your chest when you take his hand and he interlocks his fingers with yours. Your cheeks are definitely tinged pink and he might be blushing too but neither of you say anything. The abundance of monsters around you make you feel secure in knowing that you won’t be attacked for this simple sign of affection. You don’t think you’ve ever seen this amount of monsters in one place in your life.

“Hey, Papyrus?” You tug on his hand to have him look down at you as you walk. “How many monsters are there?”

“IN THE WORLD? I HONESTLY HAVE NO CLUE. BACK UNDERGROUND, WE NUMBERED IN THE HUNDREDS, AT MOST. WHEN WE GOT UP HERE, THOUGH, THERE WAS A BIT OF A POPULATION BOOM. I COULD NOT SAY FOR MYSELF WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE.”

“Huh. Cool.” Hundreds of monsters, finally seeing the sun and the stars and the ocean for the first time. You could understand why they’d want to have kids.

Papyrus smiles. “YEAH.”

“Have you ever seen a monster dating a human before?” You were filled with curiosity. You certainly never had, but it was understandable. These days, it would be dangerous to show anything like that around humans. Humans really were the worst.

“YES! AARON WAS DATING A HUMAN ALONG WITH HIS PARTNER, AARON!”

“Aaron dated himself? And a human?”

Papyrus laughs like clear bells ringing. “NO, NO, YOU MISUNDERSTAND. TWO AARONS. THEY ARE A TYPE OF MONSTER.” He looks at you confused, then. “AND YES? A HUMAN ALSO. WHY IS THAT CONFUSING?”

“Most humans don’t date multiple people at once,” you shrug. “Some do. Just surprised me for a moment.”

Papyrus looks floored. “THEY DON’T? WELL WHY NOT?”

Your face flushes. “Well, I mean, some of them view it as cheating, or a betrayal. Most humans date because they want to be close with one person, and feel close in return.”

“WHY NOT TWO PEOPLE, THEN? OR THREE?” Papyrus huffs. “YOU HUMANS CAN BE RATHER RIDICULOUS.”

“I feel like this is a discussion we should have had before going on a date,” you laugh. You hoped he didn’t want to stop now.

“PROBABLY!” Papyrus chirps. He squeezes your hand. “NO WORRIES. I HAVE NO ONE ELSE I LIKE AS MUCH AS YOU.”

You absorb the statement, allowing it to make the hotness in your face even warmer. You wanted to bury your face in his scarf to hide it, but he wasn’t even wearing it now anyways. It was weird seeing him without it, like how Sans had said that seeing him without the armor he wears to train you was weird. He usually wore neon shirts with variations of the phrase “Cool ___” on them. Now that you think about it, all the scarf-wearing skeletons did. Weird. Probably another similarity between their universes.

Now, he’s wearing the flamingo swimming trunks he’d bought, as well as a light blue shirt made of the same material. For a moment you wonder why he bothers wearing a shirt to the beach at all, since male humans tended to take them off. You bite your tongue when you realize that if he took it off, you’d be able to see straight down into his pelvis. Wild.

Were pelvises even sexual to skeletons? Did monsters even have kids the same way as humans? Logic would say no, but it wasn’t like you’d done research. You were kind of hoping not. You’d never wanted to do anything like that, and you still didn’t. 

Time for a subject change.

“It’s a nice temperature, yeah?” The air still held some of the warmth the afternoons in October had left, with a slight chill that signaled the change in seasons.

“I CANNOT FEEL MUCH TEMPERATURE. I DO NOT POSSESS SKIN.” The way Papyrus huffs makes you think he’s sorely upset about that fact. “I LIVED IN A SNOWY AREA UNDERGROUND, AND WHILE I COULD FEEL A SMALL COLDNESS, IT WAS NOTHING UNCOMFORTABLE.”

“That’s really cool, actually.”

“YEAH, IT- OH, IS THIS THE SHOP YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?” Papyrus stops suddenly, and you stumble at the sudden movement. Papyrus darts forward to steady you and you look at the sign.

It’s like you’re a child again. Before… any of this.

You smile. “Yeah.”

You enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	45. The Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Papyrus return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

When you get back to the house, Papyrus tells the others where you both were. The beach had been beautiful, and you’d ended your trip on a walk along the shore. All in all, excellent trip. He even tells them that you’re dating now. 

They didn’t seem to particularly mind anything he said, retreating to wherever they’d started off after an hour or so of catching up, with two exceptions.

“YOU GUYS ARE _DATING_? SINCE WHEN?” Blue looks mostly confused. 

“AH, SINCE THAT MORNING WE WENT RUNNING?” Papyrus responds. You can hear an anxious note in his voice. He’s shifting from foot to foot like he’s ready to get out of this situation, and you don’t blame him. You didn’t particularly like being interrogated on your dating preferences either.

“SO YOU TOOK HER HOME AFTER HER INCIDENT AND THEN WHAT… KISSED HER?”

You shrug. “Pretty much.”

Blue looks aghast. “YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO KISS _FIRST_! YOU HAVE TO ASK HER OUT AND THEN GO ON A SERIES OF ESCALATING DATES, AND _THEN_ KISS!”

“I REALLY DON’T THINK IT MATTERS AS MUCH AS YOU THINK IT DOES,” Papyrus replies, waving his hands defensively. You giggle quietly at his frantic defense, nodding in agreement. 

“DOES NOT MATTER?” Fell pipes up indignantly. He sounds like he has a bone to pick with Papyrus. “HOW RIDICULOUS. THERE ARE _RULES_ FOR DATING, YOU KNOW.”

“I FOUND OUT THE DATING GUIDEBOOK IS OUTDATED YEARS AGO,” Papyrus explains impatiently, punctuating his explanation with a sigh. Dating guidebook? Did that even exist, or was that some weird metaphor?

“IF YOU ARE GOING TO ASK FAYE OUT ON DATES ALL WILLY NILLY, I MIGHT AS WELL DO IT MYSELF,” Fell counters, a dangerous gleam in his eye socket.

“OH, YEAH?” Papyrus questions, a slight amused lilt to his voice. “WELL, THEN-”

“-Who even taught you this? Your brother? He’s not exactly the best source for dating advice,” you interrupt, directing your accusation towards Fell. He raises a brow at you in response, but doesn’t cut you off. “Anyone can date however they want, there isn’t a rulebook.”

Papyrus gives you a sideways glance, slight grimace gracing his beautiful face. He could probably look good with a paper sack over his head. “THERE ACTUALLY _IS_ A RULEBOOK.”

“Wait, really?” You were morbidly curious about this fabled book. You wanted to steal it and read it all in one sitting in a secluded corner of your room like a hermit. You were a bit of a book nerd.

“YES! IT USUALLY ISN’T VERY EFFECTIVE, THOUGH…”

You wave him off. You weren’t exactly sure what he meant by that, but you were eager to move the conversation along and away from being yelled at for ‘dating improperly’. 

“Then it doesn’t matter. Anyways, any kind of dating is fine as long as everyone is happy.”

“THERE ARE RULES, FAYE,” Fell insists. You didn’t know why he was so stubborn about this, it wasn’t like the world would collapse if you did things out of order. “I AM NOTHING IF NOT A FOLLOWER OF THE RULES.”

You laugh good-naturedly, trying to ease the tension of his accusations. “If that’s the way you want to date, it’s fine. But other people are allowed to date their own way.”

Fell crosses his arms. “IT APPEARS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT DATING IS BETTER WHEN YOU FOLLOW THE RULES. THEREFORE, AS THE RULE-FOLLOWER, IT IS MY JOB TO SHOW YOU AN EXAMPLE.” He’s staring off to the side and his cheeks are faintly red. You knew what was going on here, Fell wasn’t all that slick. You hesitate before replying.

“Is this your way of… of asking me out on a date?” You’d suspected he liked you after the way he’d acted when telling you about Papyrus’s feelings for you, but you hadn’t expected him to come out and ask. He seemed far too tsundere for the direct approach.

“WH- _NO_!” And his tsundere emerges. His face is even redder than before, but his eye sockets are wide like he’d been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “OF COURSE NOT! I SIMPLY WANT TO DEMONSTRATE PROPER DATE PROCEDURES.”

“So you wanna go on a date,” you summarize.

“WOWZERS, THIS IS GETTING FASCINATING!” Blue exclaims to Papyrus. “WE SHOULD GET THE POPCORN.”

Fell scowls at Blue, turning back to you with a cowed expression. He looked like he might bolt from the room at any moment, deer-in-headlights eyes and all. “I- UM- WELL, I NEVER SAID-”

“FELL.” Papyrus crosses his arms with a serious look on his face. He didn’t seem particularly enthused. It was kind of cute, how defensive he got over you. You think he honestly just wanted to make sure you were happy and that people were treating you right. He always seemed to. “IF YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING, JUST SPIT IT OUT. YOU DO NO GOOD FOR ANY RELATIONSHIPS YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO BE IN BY TENDER FOOTING YOUR WAY AROUND DIFFICULT STATEMENTS.”

Fell scrunches his face up, making his features difficult to read. “F-FINE.” His eyes still squeezed shut, he jerks his head robotically back towards you. “W-WILL YOU…”

He stutters to a stop, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Papyrus gestures for him to continue. 

“WILL… YOU-GO-OUT-WITH-ME?” The last few words come out as a jumbled mess, and you probably wouldn’t be able to understand it if you didn’t already know what he was about to ask. As it is, he’s already turning around to storm out of the room in a huff, but Papyrus stops him. Fell nearly growls at Papyrus, but doesn’t push past him.

“FELL,” Papyrus chastises, scolding finger and all, “YOU LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYE AFTER YOU ASK THEM OUT. FAYE DESERVES NO LESS.” 

Aw, how sweet. It was a little strange to have someone you were dating be so open to other people asking you out, but you could understand why. He’d said that monsters were much more open to dating multiple people at once, and it wasn’t like you hadn’t believed him, but you certainly hadn’t expected it to happen for you. Not this soon after dating Papyrus, at least. Culture shock, you supposed. Monsters were made of love and hope and compassion, it only made sense that their relationships would progress quickly. You were trying your best to hang on for the ride.

Fell turns jerkily back towards you, eye sockets cracked open slightly. You take a moment to think. You’d just started dating Papyrus, did you even want to date multiple people at once? You knew that was what monsters did sometimes, but could you? It wasn’t like there was a law against it, and you did like Fell.

Fell takes your moment of thinking as a rejection, and immediately begins to blurt out a string of words in defense.

“I-MEAN, I-ONLY-ASKED-YOU-OUT-BECAUSE-YOU-WERE-SO-BLATANTLY-BREAKING-THE-RULES-AND-DATING-IS-SO-MUCH-BETTER-WHEN-YOU-FOLLOW-THEM, SO-I-JUST-WANTED-TO-SHOW-YOU—”

“-Fell, stop.” You hold out a hand in a motion that tells him to cease. He shuts his mouth with a clack, cheeks still glowing red. Papyrus, behind Fell, has a borderline smug air about him, as if he’d orchestrated this all along and now his plan was succeeding.

You ignore your date (boyfriend? bonefriend?) and look at Fell with a reassuring smile. “Of course I’ll go out with you.” You rethink your response, deciding to go for a statement that might put him more at ease. “To learn the proper way to date, of course.”

You glance back at Papyrus, and he’s smiling, so you knew that was the right thing to say. You were happy to go on a date with Fell, and see where things went. He was kind to you, and you’d kissed him on the cheek when he borderline confessed to you on the night where he told you how Papyrus felt. He seemed to really care about you.

“OH.” Fell’s eyelights dart from side to side before he straightens. “HUH. WELL- UM.” He grits his teeth. “THANK YOU. WE WILL MEET IN TWO DAYS AT THREE IN THE AFTERNOON.” He glances nervously at you, then at Papyrus, then practically sprints out of the room.

“WELL, THAT WAS AWKWARD!” Blue exclaims with cheeriness. “BUT ALSO INCREDIBLY ENTERTAINING. THANKS!” He slumps into the couch, tapping away at a galaxy-faced 3DS. Whenever he wasn’t on his computer, he was on that. He was formidable in Terraria.

You flip down next to him, and Papyrus sits next to you. “What’ve you guys been up to since Papyrus whisked me away for no reason?”

Blue looks slightly confused at your statement. “NO REASON? BUT IT WAS BECAUSE OF-”

“-BECAUSE I WANTED TO GO ON A DATE, OF COURSE!” Papyrus interrupts, staring daggers at Blue. Did he think you didn’t notice the silent interaction? You did.

Blue blinks in surprise. “UH, YEAH. OKAY.” He pauses his game before continuing. “AND WE, UM… DIDN’T DO MUCH,” he informs you, lying terribly. “MOSTLY JUST WEIRD SCIENCY STUFF.”

“Oh.” You lean onto Papyrus’s shoulder. He was warm and smelled like cinnamon. You wondered if that was some kind of perfumed spray or just a natural thing for him. Monsters were weird, you wouldn’t put it past them to have such good natural smells. “What kind of weird sciency stuff?”

“NOTHING YOU’D CONSIDER IMPORTANT,” Blue words his statement carefully. You wonder what he means by that. You shoot him a look.

“I thought you guys told me everything already. Why are you keeping secrets from me?” You're exasperated by now.

Papyrus and Blue meet eyes for just a moment, exchanging some kind of silent conversation that fills you with frustration. Why wouldn’t they talk to you? You felt like things were being kept from you, and you didn’t like it.

“WE… HAVE,” Papyrus tells you slowly, as if that would help the message sink in deeper. “YOU JUST DO NOT REMEMBER.”

“What do you mean?” You sit up, off of Papyrus’s shoulder, to look him in the eye. “I think I’d remember if you told me.”

“NO,” Blue shakes his head. “THE SUBJECT MATTER CAUSES PEOPLE TO FORGET A COUPLE MOMENTS AFTER HEARING IT. IT’S SCIENCE STUFF.”

“IF WE TELL YOU MORE THAN THAT, YOU WILL PROBABLY FORGET AGAIN,” Papyrus admits, wringing his hands nervously. “JUST KNOW THAT THE OTHERS ARE WORKING ON SOMETHING TO LET YOU REMEMBER.” Papyrus cringes as if remembering something unpleasant.

Blue hesitates. “WE- WE NEED SOMETHING FROM YOU IN ORDER TO MAKE IT.”

You turn to him with interested eyes. “Oh?”

“YEAH…” Blue looks almost guilty somehow. “WE NEED-”

“-NOTHING.” Papyrus finishes for him, hands primly in his lap. “THEY NEED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.”

“NO, THAT’S NOT TRUE, WE NEED-”

“BLUE.” Papyrus warns him sharply. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him so angry before.

“-DETERMINATION FROM YOUR SOUL.” Blue gives you a sheepish smile. “I’M SORRY, BUT WE NEED IT.”

You’re confused now. “That was the big deal?”

Papyrus looks shocked. “YOU AREN’T UPSET ABOUT THAT?”

“No? Should I be?”

Papyrus winces, looks to the side in thought, then back at you. “I DON’T THINK YOU ARE GRASPING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ALL THIS. THE DETERMINATION IN YOUR SOUL IS YOU. YOUR SOUL IS YOU. TO TAKE SOMETHING FROM IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN AN INVASION AND AN ATTACK.”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Blue exclaims, throwing his arms into the air in indignation. “SHE’D BE ASLEEP FOR THE WHOLE THING AND WE WOULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT HER PERMISSION! THERE WOULDN’T BE ANY PAIN AFTER, EITHER, AND HER DT RESERVES WOULD ALREADY BE REPLENISHED BY THE TIME SHE WOKE UP.”

DT? Meaning determination? It made sense in the context of the situation. You understood both sides of the argument, you really did. You were torn on what to decide.

“And this would… help me remember?” You don’t like this feeling, like a small tickle in the back of your mind saying that you’re missing something. It tells you that none of this is important, but you’re not sure that you believe it. “I’d actually be able to retain the things you tell me?”

Blue nods emphatically. “YES!”

Papyrus huffs and crosses his arms, practically fuming. “YOU CAN’T KNOW THAT FOR SURE.”

“Papyrus, it’s not like I’ll die, and he said it won’t even hurt! Even if it doesn’t work, there would be no harm done,” you reassure him.

“YOU’RE _AGREEING_ WITH HIM?” Papyrus looks aghast. “THIS IDEA IS ABSOLUTELY REPUGNANT.”

“NO IT’S NOT!” Blue practically yells defensively. “SHE’LL-” Before he can finish speaking, Papyrus stands up sharply. He pauses for just a moment, swaying only barely noticeably, before stomping out of the room. “-...BE FINE…” Blue trails off, glancing at you worriedly. You fidget with your ring before speaking.

“You’re sure I’ll be okay?” You were seriously considering this. Sure, you’d been experimented on before, but this wasn’t an experiment. It was more like… a voluntary medical procedure. That you wanted to do. You wouldn’t be strapped down to a table while you tried your hardest to break free. You’d be fine.

“YEAH! YOU WON’T EVEN NOTICE IT’S GONE.”

“Alright. Okay…” you take a deep breath, allowing yourself to completely expel it in one drawn out sigh before continuing.

“Yeah. I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


	46. Dating...Continue?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go on a date with Fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)

The procedure was set to happen in a week, solid. Sans said there was some equipment back Underground he needed to ready, that it was too big to bring to his aboveground lab. You agreed to the wait, you would need time to really come to terms with the medical procedure. You didn’t want to dash into it blindly and end up having an anxiety attack.

Good news, that left you time for your date with Fell! It still weirded you out how completely chill everyone was with the prospect of dating multiple people. It’d be difficult to find a human who thought like that, so it was bizarre that what seemed like the entire monster species had no bias against it.

You meet him downstairs at his requested time in a light green, flowy dress. He’s smartly dressed in a black suit with red trimmings, and you can’t help but think that it looks good on him. The fabric is nearly tailored, and you realize that due to how tall he is, he probably had to either hand make the suit or buy it custom made off of the internet. Not that the latter would be a problem for him considering the skeletons’ financial situation.

It… _**suits**_ … him.

Hah.

He’s flustered beyond belief when he sees you dressed up for a date with him. “Y-YOU LOOK NICE,” he comments, a tinge of awkwardness staining his tone. He sounds nervous, slightly shaky. You wonder if he’s ever dated anybody before, or if you were his first ever date? His cheekbones burn red when he shoves a bouquet of flowers in your direction. 

You smile. “You look good too.” 

His cheekbones flush even deeper, and he doesn’t say anything. You take the flowers and examine them. “These are some really pretty tulips,” you comment. 

“I CUT THEM MYSELF.”

That was actually adorable. “Thank you! I’ll go get something to put them in!” 

Ask you rummage through the kitchen cabinets for a vase, Fell stands in the corner awkwardly. You finally pull one out and hold it up like a prize. You fill it with water and set it on the kitchen counter—you’d bring it up to your room when you came back from the date. The flowers are yellow and pink mixed, with a few tinier, younger tulips thrown into the mix of adult flowers. You wonder where he cut them from.

“Where are we going?” You ask Fell, looking up towards his face. You were really curious, it wasn’t often that you dressed up like this, and if Fell was wearing a suit, it probably meant you were going somewhere formal. You didn’t really have anything against going somewhere formal as long as it was safe for you, and preferably not loud. You could get pretty sensitive to noise, and you didn’t plan on bringing your headphones to cancel the sounds out.

“I MADE DINNER RESERVATIONS AT THIS UNIVERSE METTATON’S RESTAURANT. I MUST SAY, IT IS QUITE STRANGE THAT HE WOULD OPEN A PLACE OF ESTABLISHMENT.” He still looks quite flustered, even from just the simple action of talking to you. You guess there really was a difference in the context behind your interactions right now. 

“Why’s that?”

“MY VERSION OF HIM WOULD PROBABLY KILL ANY CUSTOMER WHO ENTERED HIS RESTAURANT.”

“Why would he do that?!” You ask in horror. Fell regards you with a confused expression.

“FOR ENTERTAINMENT, OF COURSE. THAT IS JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE. YOU KILLED, OR YOU WERE KILLED.”

“That sounds awful,” you comment quietly. “I can’t believe you had to grow up in a place like that.”

Fell shrugs. “IT IS WHAT IT IS. AND NOW I’M HERE. ADMITTEDLY, IT WAS QUITE THE ADJUSTMENT.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” you admit. Fell blushes once more.

“I SUPPOSE I AM TOO.”

You smile, and he’s trying to keep a straight face, but you can tell that he’s smiling too. “So when are we leaving?”

“AH!” He exclaims, as if you’d just reminded him that you were planning to leave the house at all. “OF COURSE! WE ARE LEAVING…” he checks his watch, then grits his teeth. “TEN MINUTES AGO!”

Oof. You suppose you’d distracted him with conversation. He’d probably been planning to just leave as soon as you got downstairs. You always wrecked everything, didn’t you?

Ah, you should probably stop the self deprecation. It’s harder than it looks.

“Sorry!” You squeak. “For making us late!”

“DON’T APOLOGIZE, WE JUST NEED TO GET TO THE CAR FASTER!”

“Couldn’t your brother just teleport u-”

“-ONWARDS!”

He scoops you up under his arm, and you scramble with your hands to push the bottom of your dress down to modestly cover yourself. At least no one else was downstairs right now to see your upskirt. Fell carries you into the garage and plops you into the passenger seat of the leather interior seats of his black muscle car. It really was a nice ride, polished and oiled and pristine. You’d wonder if it’s even been outside of the garage at all, considering how untouched the exterior appears, if it weren’t for the time it had been driven to the Halloween costume store.

“NOW, FOR YOU TO EXPERIENCE MY FLAWLESS DRIVING!” Fell announces. “IT IS SO GREAT, IN FACT, THAT I NEED NOT EVER HAVE DRIVEN ON THE ROAD BEFORE TO HAVE SUCH SKILL!”

He… did he even have a driver’s license? It wasn’t like you had one either, but he was declaring himself as the god of all drivers, so you couldn’t help but feel a bit skeptical.

“Maybe you should drive on the road more,” you comment, idly tracing the seam in between two pieces of leather in your seat. The car was really high quality. “Show off your skills to all the competing drivers and establish your driving dominance.” That last part was entirely a joke, and Fell gives you a sideways glance that tells you that he didn’t appreciate the good natured dig at his viewpoints. You understand.

“RIDICULOUS!” Fell exclaims, switching the car into reverse so he can back out of the garage. “IF I DRIVE MORE OFTEN, THE ENVIRONMENT WILL TARNISH MY CAR’S SHINING EXTERIOR!”

“Well, yeah,” you admit, propping your head up with your elbow next to the car window, “but what’s the point in maintaining looks if no one gets to see it? Drive-through car washes exist, you know.”

“AS IF I WOULD ENTRUST THE APPEARANCE OF MY CAR TO SOMEONE I DO NOT KNOW.”

Okay, he was starting to get snarky. This wasn’t going in the best direction at all. “Why do you care about it so much?”

Fell quirks a brow at you, glancing sideways for a second before looking back at the road. He wasn’t a bad driver, despite his lack of experience. You wonder what was different between him and Papyrus that would make their driving so different. Papyrus jumped at any opportunity to take his red sports car out for a spin, but Fell almost seemed reluctant to take his car out on the road.

“IT’S JUST…” Fell finally replies, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. You get the feeling he wouldn’t normally answer the question. It was probably emotionally charged, and Fell wasn’t the most open with how he felt most of the time. “...IT’S JUST THAT I HAVE WANTED A CAR LIKE THIS. FOR A VERY LONG TIME.”

“While you were trapped underground?”

Fell makes a small noise of affirmation and jerks his head into a nod. “TO SURVIVE DOWN THERE… YOU NEEDED SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO. WHEN YOU GOT OUT. YOU WOULD NOT TELL ANYONE, OF COURSE. THAT WOULD BE AN EASY WAY TO LOOK WEAK AND GET YOURSELF KILLED. BUT…”

“...The car was yours,” you finish for him. He glances at you again with a nervous expression.

“YES.”

“So you’re afraid of something happening to it?” You ask, putting two and two together. “Now that you have what you’d always dreamed of, you’re afraid to actually use it in case it gets ruined?”

“THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS IS NEVER AFRAID!”

Huh? You blink, startled. “You used your real name.”

“PSSSH. ONLY FOR THE CATCHPHRASE. I HAVE TRIED IT BEFORE, AND ‘THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE FELL’ JUST DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF PIZAZZ.”

Pff. You giggle, bringing a hand up to cover your mouth. It was still weird whenever one of your housemates would refer to themselves with their real name. You’d come to know them under their nicknames, so hearing themselves called by the name of another one of your housemates (and in this case, one your we’re now dating) always manages to catch you off guard.

“I think it sounds great either way,” you respond truthfully.

 

———

 

Was anything on this menu edible?

There was a burger covered in sequins, a drink that looked like it might give you diabetes after the first sip, and what looked like a steak so well done it might as well be charcoal.

“THIS VERSION OF METTATON COULD DO WITH SOME COOKING LESSONS,” Fell decides, slapping his menu down onto the table. “IF I HAD KNOWN HOW LOW THIS INFERIOR METTATON’S STANDARDS WERE, WE WOULD HAVE GONE ELSEWHERE.”

“It’s not all bad,” you exclaim, finding a menu item that you might actually be able to eat. “This sub sandwich looks alright.”

Fell pouts. “STILL, NOT EXACTLY WHAT I EXPECTED WHEN I BOOKED A RESERVATION HERE.” He looks adorable when his face goes like that, all sad and pouty. His brow bones furrow slightly and he grits his teeth when he does it.

“It’s cool, I like sub sandwiches,” you soothe, placing your menu down on the table. “It doesn’t really matter what we eat on a date, as long as we’re spending time with each other.”

That gets Fell grumbling. “YES… I SUPPOSE…”

“And besides, I’ve had fun with you already! I learned something new about you, as well!” You give him your best smile. You didn’t want him to think you weren’t enjoying the date just because the food here wasn’t all that great.

“YOU KEEP LEARNING THINGS ABOUT ME, BUT I SO RARELY LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT YOU,” Fell speculates. You guess that’s right, but you hadn’t really thought of it that way. Most of what he could learn about you was sad or hard to talk about.

You bite your lip slightly. “Ah, um… alright, I can give you some basic trivia, I guess.”

You tell him where you were born, what your dead-to-you parents did for a living, the schools you used to go to, your now obsolete dreams for the future. It was weird talking about your life before being a mage. It felt like you were talking about someone else entirely. It felt like you were talking about someone who was dead.

“AND THEN YOU MOVED TO THIS CITY?”

“Hm, no.” You wince. “I lived an hour or so away, I just got… taken here.”

“OH.” Fell fidgets with his hands. “SORRY.”

“It’s alright,” you respond. “You didn’t know.”

Fell’s expression brightens when he starts speaking again. “I AM GLAD TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR PAST BEFORE MONSTERS EMERGED! I HAD BITS OF INFORMATION, BUT NOT REALLY ENOUGH TO STRING TOGETHER.”

You shrug. “You’re welcome. It’s not like I’m giving you codes to a nuclear missile.”

“YOU GAVE ME CODES TO THE NUCLEAR MISSILE OF YOUR HEART,” Fell grins, winking. Was that a blush on your face? You refused to acknowledge its presence.

“What does that even mean?” You laugh.

“OH-MAN-IT-IS-GROWING-RATHER-WARM-CAN-SOMEONE-OPEN-A-WINDOW?” Fell stuttered, face red again.

The waiter arrives, and you order the only edible food item on the menu. Fell abstains from ordering altogether, citing that he didn’t want his money to go towards trash. You figure you’ll have to share your food with him when it arrives and he realizes that he’s hungry, but you don’t mind all that much.

“YOU KNOW,” he starts, after a period of silence, “THIS WORLD IS RATHER STRANGE.”

You’d and Pup has spoken about the differences between his universe and your own before, so you knew where he was coming from. From the context of what he’d said, you think you can take a stab at guessing how Fell’s was. By what you’d seen of he and his brother, the personalities weren’t all switched around like in Pup’s (and Orange’s?). But he still carries that undercurrent of ‘I’ve seen shit and I could do things’ that Pup and Black did. Red as well. 

“Yours was more violent, yeah?” You trace the rim of your cup of water with your finger. “More dangerous.”

Fell nods. “IT REALLY WAS QUITE THE CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE WHEN THAT MACHINE BACKFIRED AND BROUGHT US HERE.”

“I bet.” You couldn’t imagine being uprooted from your own universe and shoved into a different one. One with entirely different moral standards than the one you’d been brought up in.

“RED AND I ACTUALLY TRIED TO ATTACK THE OTHERS WHEN WE ARRIVED HERE.”

“Really?!”

“MHM. FROM WHAT I CAN REMEMBER, PUP AND BLACK WERE, AS WELL, BUT IT IS A LITTLE FUZZY. WE WERE A BIT OUT OF IT.”

“But you got talked down,” you guess, “and now you understand how to live here.”

Fell smiles. “YES.”

“Good,” you reply, smiling broadly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)   
>  [ESaaM Ask Blog](https://ask-esaam.tumblr.com/)   
>  [ESaaM Discord](https://discord.gg/y3fWYp9)


End file.
